HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many generic licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are in operation; how many designated establishments hold such licences; how many generic licences were extant in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; how many procedures were conducted under those licences in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: For the purposes of this question we have taken 'generic licences' to refer to thematic licences issued for the testing for regulatory purposes of specific classes of test materials in line with specified regulatory requirements. The Home Office does not record information on such licences separately, but we have carried out a special exercise to extract the information requested. We estimate that there are currently 71 'generic licences' extant and that there were 67 at 31 December 2008 and 65 at 31 December 2007. The annual statistical return for 2007, the latest year for which figures are available, indicates 183,909 procedures were conducted during 2007 under the licences identified as generic that were in force at 31 December 2007.

Borders: Personal Records

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of coaches entering the UK will be required to have all their passengers disembarked for immigration checks under the e-borders system; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: All passengers seeking entry or admission to the UK are required to provide evidence of their nationality and identity, which is checked against the UK's watchlist. Under e-borders, carriers will be required to provide biographic and travel document information in advance of travel.
	This advance passenger check will allow for a significant increase in the volume of coach passengers who can be subsequently checked at the border, without disembarking from the coach.
	A pilot scheme is operating with one particular coach company and we continue to develop the best operating models, in discussion with maritime, rail and coach operators.

Borders: Personal Records

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the likely operation of the e-borders system in respect of UK nationals who hold dual nationality.

Phil Woolas: The e-Borders system will not negatively affect travellers who hold dual nationality. Data from travel documents presented by dual nationals on inbound and outbound journeys will be transmitted to e-Borders and screened against watchlists as normal. Key facts, such as an individual's date of birth, will remain the same, irrespective of the travel document they use. Any discrepancies will continue to be addressed by UK Border Agency staff at the border.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made.

Phil Woolas: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, the Home Office is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
	The Home Office has published details of the protected personal data related incidents notified to the Information Commissioner's Office in 2007-08 in its resource accounts published on 8 August 2008 (a copy of which is in the House Library). We will be publishing information on any personal data security breaches reported to the Information Commissioner for the 2008-09 reporting year before Parliament rises in July. The information is currently being compiled and is to be audited and verified before it is laid before Parliament.
	In 2008-09, the Home Office made two notifications to the Information Commissioner. One related to the PA consulting data loss incident, which included information set out in my predecessor's formal notification to the Information Commissioner (a copy of which is in the House Library) about the number of individual subjects affected. The other was a potential incident in the UK Border Agency involving the loss of a data stick on UKBA premises. The data stick was subsequently found at an internal location so this was not in fact a notifiable incident.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been (i) disciplined and (ii) dismissed for (A) breaches of data protection requirements and (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Disciplined  Dismissed 
			   HO  UKBA  IPS  CRB  HO  UKBA  IPS  CRB 
			 Breaches of data protection requirements 0 (1)— 8 0 0 (1)— 7 0 
			 Inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data (1)— (1)— 0 0 (1)— 0 (1)— 0 
			 (1)Less than five.   Note:   Where there have been less than five such cases it is the policy of the Home Office to confine this information on grounds of confidentiality.

Departmental ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 30W, on departmental ICT, when he expects all of his Department's IT systems to be fully compliant with ISO 27001 under the new standard set by the data handling report published in June 2008.

Phil Woolas: All IT systems across Government are subject to Cabinet Office approved policies and procedures for Information Security Management which are fully compliant with the controls in ISO 27001 and also incorporate the recommendations from the data handling report published in June 2008. Compliance is assessed via a regime known as accreditation.
	All IT systems and networks within the Home Office are subject to this continual accreditation process as they enter service for the first time or when significant changes are made to existing systems; there is also a process of periodic review of all accredited systems.

Departmental Internet

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department has spent on the maintenance of its website in each year since 1997.

Phil Woolas: The cost of maintaining Home Office websites (i.e. hosting, licensing, domain registration, and updates, but excluding staff costs) has been as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 750,100 
			 2007-08 620,000 
			 2008-09 577,000 
		
	
	Prior to 2006, costs were embedded in other communications budgets and could not be separately extracted, other than at disproportionate cost.

Deportation: Private Sector

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 154W, on deportation: private sector, with which three operators the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has contracts; and how much UKBA spent on those contracts in 2008.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency has contracts with G4S Justice and Care Services, Serco Home Affairs and Molynes International Security to escort individuals who are being removed from the United Kingdom. The value of contracts between the UK Border Agency and its escorting suppliers is commercially sensitive and cannot therefore be disclosed.

Domestic Violence

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution  (a) HM Treasury and  (b) the Department for Work and Pensions has made towards his Department's consultation on Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls.

Alan Campbell: The consultation document "Together We can End Violence Against Women and Girls" was considered and cleared by the Domestic Affairs Committee which includes representation from both Her Majesty's Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Domestic Violence

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for specialist voluntary sector organisations dealing with violence against women.

Alan Campbell: In general, funding decisions for local services are determined by local commissioners based on local areas identifying needs. These are then included in their priorities for improvement with outcomes specifying how the issues will be addressed and how they contribute to wider national aims. Addressing domestic and sexual violence will be a key priority in helping local partnerships to deliver fully on the public service agreement requirements.
	The consultation "Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls" closed on 29 May 2009. A key theme for consultation was the promotion of better consistency and quality of provision of services for victims of violence against women and girls. This work will be taken forward during development of a cross-Government strategy.
	Among other initiatives, the Home Office provides £3.5 million to regional Government offices who then allocate it locally to domestic and sexual violence services.

Educational Accreditation Bodies

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department paid to educational accreditation bodies in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office, including the Identity and Passport Service and the Criminal Records Bureau, has not made any payments to educational accreditation bodies.

Entry Clearances: Tourists

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tourist visas were issued to persons of each nationality in each of the last four years; how many such visas were issued to children; and what estimate she has made of the number of such children who overstayed their visa.

Phil Woolas: The number of tourist visas issued to each nationality in each of the calendar years 2005-08, including the number issued to persons under the age of 18, is shown in the following tables. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 20 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 175-76W.
	
		
			  Other visit vitas issued 2005-08 by nationality 
			   2005  2006 
			  Nationality  Over 18  Under 18  Total  Over 18  Under 18  Total 
			 Afghanistan 804 175 979 1,035 320 1,355 
			 Albania 3,354 485 3,839 2,777 485 3,262 
			 Algeria 5,661 446 6,107 6,238 1,027 7,265 
			 Andorra 2 — 2 4 — 4 
			 Angola 2,499 308 2,807 2,332 304 2,636 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 5 1 6 4 1 6 
			 Argentina 35 — 35 24 — 24 
			 Armenia 1,114 74 1,188 1,130 95 1,225 
			 Australia 298 3 301 365 — 365 
			 Austria — — — 3 1 4 
			 Azerbaijan 2 930 252 3,182 3,498 265 3,763 
			 Bahamas 2 — 2 3 1 4 
			 Bahrain 4,437 1,317 6,754 5,081 1,585 6,666 
			 Bangladesh 9,756 1,618 11,374 8,767 2,514 11,281 
			 Barbados 17 3 20 18 — 18 
			 Belarus 3,612 3,582 7,194 4,040 3,946 7,986 
			 Belgium 3 — 3 1 — 1 
			 Belize 4 — 4 2 1 3 
			 Benin 373 27 400 371 34 405 
			 Bermuda — — — — — — 
			 Bhutan 116 4 120 87 4 91 
			 Bolivia 34 — 34 74 8 82 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,353 198 2,551 2,260 243 2,503 
			 Botswana 76 7 83 119 22 141 
			 Brazil 301 21 322 347 13 360 
			 British Citizen 36 1 37 25 3 28 
			 British National Overseas 36 — 36 30 — 30 
			 British Overseas Citizen 6 — 6 9 — 9 
			 British Protected Person 4 — 4 — — — 
			 British Subject 7 — 7 2 — 2 
			 Brunei 7 — 7 1 — 1 
			 Bulgaria 13,715 939 14,654 14,676 1,349 16,025 
			 Burkina 174 6 180 211 18 229 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 665 40 705 524 89 613 
			 Burundi 149 25 174 136 18 154 
			 Cambodia 138 15 153 220 41 261 
			 Cameroon 2,697 208 2,905 2,856 327 3,183 
			 Canada 226 1 227 249 2 251 
			 Cape Verde 114 10 124 142 14 156 
			 Central African Republic 41 5 46 71 7 78 
			 Chad 97 5 102 78 7 85 
			 Chile 370 9 379 225 22 247 
			 China 74 897 7,427 82,324 94,073 11,220 105,293 
			 Colombia 10,111 1,239 11,350 10,287 1,821 12,108 
			 Comoros 26 — 26 24 — 24 
			 Congo 649 115 764 706 172 878 
			 Costa Rica 1 — 1 7 2 9 
			 Croatia 11,240 996 12,236 2,064 67 2,131 
			 Cuba 1,358 44 1,402 1,632 50 1,682 
			 Cyprus 261 74 335 397 240 637 
			 Czech Republic 9 — 9 735 21 756 
			 Democratic Republic of Congo 2,320 632 2,952 2,154 642 2,796 
			 Denmark — — — 2 — 2 
			 Dependant Territory — — — — — — 
			 Djibouti 161 29 190 132 12 144 
			 Dominica 4 1 5 8 3 11 
			 Dominican Republic 1,336 136 1,472 1,170 139 1,309 
			 East Timor (Timor-Leste) 1 1 2 3 — 3 
			 Ecuador 2,133 185 2,318 2,396 324 2,720 
			 Egypt 18,973 2,183 21,156 20,282 2,506 22,788 
			 El Salvador 16 2 18 9 — 9 
			 Equatorial Guinea 194 10 204 183 5 188 
			 Eritrea 458 57 515 417 90 507 
			 Estonia 92 9 101 162 26 188 
			 Ethiopia 2,779 284 3,063 1,829 157 1,986 
			 Fiji 741 65 806 612 71 683 
			 Finland — — — 8 4 12 
			 France 9 1 10 21 4 25 
			 Gabon 309 29 338 319 41 360 
			 Gambia 2,322 397 2,719 1,992 485 2,477 
			 Georgia 2,231 130 2,361 2,637 219 2,856 
			 Germany 5 — 5 4 — 4 
			 Ghana 11,942 1,709 13,651 10,807 2,372 13,179 
			 Greece — — — — — — 
			 Greenland — — — — — — 
			 Grenada 6 — 6 8 — 8 
			 Guatemala 7 1 8 17 — 17 
			 Guinea 919 115 1,034 925 96 1,021 
			 Guinea-Bissau 75 8 83 124 19 143 
			 Guyana 1,764 304 2,068 1,921 399 2,320 
			 Haiti 245 22 267 218 10 228 
			 Honduras 7 — 7 17 — 17 
			 Hong Kong 214 13 227 232 19 251 
			 Hungary 521 42 563 363 33 396 
			 Iceland 5 — 5 — — — 
			 India 169,722 19,137 188,859 191,902 29,431 221,333 
			 Indonesia 11,025 1,233 12,258 11,500 1,418 12,918 
			 Iran 13 401 1,362 14,763 15,438 3,678 19,116 
			 Iraq 4,388 504 4,892 4,341 877 5,218 
			 Ireland 3 — 3 5 4 9 
			 Israel 147 6 153 101 6 107 
			 Italy 4 — 4 3 — 3 
			 Ivory Coast 1,318 143 1,461 1,414 211 1,625 
			 Jamaica 3,548 210 3,758 3,527 635 4,162 
			 Japan 551 4 555 687 5 692 
			 Jordan 8,068 955 9,023 8,597 1,240 9,837 
			 Kazakhstan 10,998 896 11,894 16,225 3,260 19,485 
			 Kenya 5,610 440 6,050 5,709 1,272 6,981 
			 Korea (North) 17 1 18 13 3 16 
			 Kosovo — — — — — — 
			 Kuwait 29,005 10,223 39,228 28,696 10,844 39,540 
			 Kyrgyzstan 789 44 833 1,043 112 1,155 
			 Laos 75 7 82 69 6 75 
			 Latvia 125 6 131 108 17 125 
			 Lebanon 7,933 650 8,583 8,108 965 9,073 
			 Lesotho 2 — 2 6 1 7 
			 Liberia 344 20 364 284 24 308 
			 Libya 5,242 935 6,177 4,663 1,247 5,910 
			 Lithuania 24 7 31 16 1 17 
			 Luxembourg — — — — — — 
			 Macau 8 1 9 8 — 8 
			 Macedonia 1,623 89 1,712 1,861 175 2,036 
			 Madagascar 257 11 268 278 16 294 
			 Malawi 117 16 133 1,008 165 1,173 
			 Malaysia 105 3 108 78 6 84 
			 Maldives 8 3 11 3 1 4 
			 Mali 436 29 465 550 48 598 
			 Malta 1 — 1 — — — 
			 Marshall Islands 2 — 2 — — — 
			 Mauritania 264 10 274 272 32 304 
			 Mauritius 338 48 386 763 108 871 
			 Mexico 581 70 651 665 38 703 
			 Micronesia — — — — — — 
			 Moldova 963 79 1,042 1,090 107 1,197 
			 Mongolia 624 54 678 790 64 854 
			 Montenegro — — — — — — 
			 Montserrat — — — — — — 
			 Morocco 8,666 1,009 9,675 8,205 1,602 9,807 
			 Mozambique 452 44 496 500 36 536 
			 Namibia 7 2 9 10 — 10 
			 Nauru — — — — — — 
			 Nepal 2,234 163 2,397 2,538 256 2,794 
			 Netherlands 22 1 23 10 1 11 
			 New Zealand 131 3 134 75 1 76 
			 Nicaragua 8 — 8 5 — 5 
			 Niger 112 7 119 117 10 127 
			 Nigeria 70,030 17,002 87,032 49,816 19,179 68,995 
			 None 17 — 17 7 — 7 
			 Norway 1 — 1 1 — 1 
			 Oman 3,787 856 4,643 3,565 1,082 4,647 
			 Other 873 136 1,009 866 176 1,042 
			 Pakistan 51,797 11,848 63,645 42,865 19,415 62,280 
			 Palestinian Authority 587 107 694 474 75 549 
			 Panama 1 — 1 123 5 128 
			 Papua New Guinea 6 — 6 4 — 4 
			 Paraguay 3 — 3 1 — 1 
			 Peru 3,172 230 3,402 3,652 255 3,907 
			 Philippines 11,953 780 12,733 13,587 1,297 14,884 
			 Poland 332 15 347 210 13 223 
			 Portugal — — — 4 — 4 
			 Qatar 5,185 2,373 7,558 7,439 3,799 11,238 
			 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 833 165 998 733 247 980 
			 Romania 22,135 1,907 24,042 24,899 2,471 27,370 
			 Russia 92,377 16,765 109,142 105,008 11,014 116,022 
			 Rwanda 292 40 332 392 31 423 
			 Sao Tome And Principe 60 6 66 62 7 69 
			 Saudi Arabia 21,253 7,757 29,010 25,757 9,605 35,362 
			 Senegal 1,436 67 1,503 1,742 128 1,870 
			 Serbia — — — — — — 
			 Seychelles — — — 2 — 2 
			 Sierra Leone 2,474 324 2,798 2,217 497 2,714 
			 Singapore 19 — 19 27 — 27 
			 Slovakia 160 15 175 183 10 193 
			 Slovenia 66 8 74 20 2 22 
			 Solomon Islands 1 1 2 1 — 1 
			 Somalia 457 60 517 357 76 433 
			 South Africa 285 29 314 292 34 326 
			 South Korea 59 5 64 121 4 125 
			 Soviet Union 2 — 2 — — — 
			 Spain 4 1 5 10 5 15 
			 Sri Lanka 11,534 1,520 13,054 9,680 3,481 13,161 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis 1 — 1 2  2 
			 St Lucia 10 — 10 14 1 15 
			 St Vincent 3 — 3 7 1 8 
			 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 881 165 1,046 792 225 1,017 
			 Sudan 4,204 946 5,150 4,856 1,355 6,211 
			 Surinam 203 8 211 151 9 160 
			 Swaziland 12 — 12 9 — 9 
			 Sweden 14 — 14 1 1 2 
			 Switzerland 3 — 3 12 8 20 
			 Syria 4,288 515 4,803 4,356 551 4,907 
			 Taiwan 23,757 1,101 24,858 25,853 1,715 27,568 
			 Tajikistan 188 8 196 291 34 325 
			 Tanzania 3,433 336 3,769 3,345 395 3,740 
			 Thailand 24,501 1,740 26,241 22,673 1,856 24,529 
			 Togo 292 15 307 282 20 302 
			 Tonga 2 — 2 — — — 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 148 8 156 64 21 85 
			 Tunisia 3,476 359 3,835 2,837 462 3,299 
			 Turkey 42 579 4,196 46,775 45,954 6,008 51,962 
			 Turkmenistan 735 114 849 447 81 528 
			 Uganda 3,548 265 3,813 3,692 446 4,138 
			 Ukraine 17,317 2,960 20,277 20,111 3,379 23,490 
			 United Arab Emirates 11,762 4,809 16,571 13,926 6,216 20,142 
			 United Nations 74 — 74 66 — 66 
			 United States 1,054 13 1,067 1,172 22 1,194 
			 Unspecified Nationality 3 264 517 3,781 3,003 970 3,973 
			 Uruguay 6 — 6 4 — 4 
			 Uzbekistan 1,313 73 1,386 1,236 208 1,444 
			 Vanuatu — — — 1 — 1 
			 Vatican 9 — 9 9 — 9 
			 Venezuela 11 — 11 79 12 91 
			 Vietnam 3,368 210 3,578 3,411 261 3,672 
			 Western Samoa — — — 1 — 1 
			 Yemen 1,914 545 2,459 2,098 569 2,667 
			 Yugoslavia 10,097 865 10,962 11,058 1,479 12,537 
			 Zambia 2,121 218 2,339 2,440 493 2,933 
			 Zimbabwe 5,370 967 6,337 3,292 1,305 4,597 
			 Grand total 965,056 147,440 1,112,496 1,009,875 192,969 1,202,844 
		
	
	
		
			   2007  2008 
			  Nationality  Over 18  Under 18  Total  Over 18  Under 18  Total 
			 Afghanistan 710 277 987 744 279 1,023 
			 Albania 2,561 466 3,027 2,515 640 3,155 
			 Algeria 5,910 1,118 7,028 5,740 949 6,689 
			 Andorra 5 — 5 — — — 
			 Angola 2,467 421 2,888 2,257 412 2 669 
			 Antigua and Barbuda — — — 2 — 2 
			 Argentina 34 — 34 11 — 11 
			 Armenia 1,189 111 1,300 1,162 150 1,312 
			 Australia 365 2 367 373 4 377 
			 Austria 4 — 4 — — — 
			 Azerbaijan 3,303 409 3,712 3,080 605 3,685 
			 Bahamas — — — 4 — 4 
			 Bahrain 4,702 1,438 6,140 5,819 1,834 7,653 
			 Bangladesh 6,255 2,456 8,711 6,473 2,168 8,641 
			 Barbados 33 1 34 6 — 6 
			 Belarus 3,686 3,991 7,877 4393 3,499 7,892 
			 Belgium 11 1 12 7 — 7 
			 Belize 4 1 5 4 — 4 
			 Benin 311 22 333 281 11 292 
			 Bermuda — — — — — — 
			 Bhutan 82 17 99 62 2 64 
			 Bolivia 95 4 99 11 1 12 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,264 304 2,568 2,635 316 2,951 
			 Botswana 94 17 111 58 5 63 
			 Brazil 358 20 378 312 14 326 
			 British Citizen 50 13 63 25 6 31 
			 British National Overseas 22 — 22 24 — 24 
			 British Overseas Citizen 2 — 2 6 — 6 
			 British Protected Person 1 — 1 1 — 1 
			 British Subject — — — — — — 
			 Brunei 4 — 4 1 1 2 
			 Bulgaria 144 6 150 68 8 76 
			 Burkina 235 20 255 209 6 215 
			 Burma (Myanmar) 721 69 790 706 73 779 
			 Burundi 141 14 155 176 11 187 
			 Cambodia 164 21 185 241 27 268 
			 Cameroon 2,666 287 2,953 2,175 264 2,439 
			 Canada 266 5 271 273 2 275 
			 Cape Verde 134 10 144 83 8 91 
			 Central African Republic 36 8 44 52 10 62 
			 Chad 81 6 87 95 13 108 
			 Chile 10 — 10 10 — 10 
			 China 96,982 14,134 111,116 77,919 12,261 90,180 
			 Colombia 10,698 1,998 12,696 10,240 1,897 12,137 
			 Comoros 16 — 16 34 — 34 
			 Congo 527 90 617 438 106 544 
			 Costa Rica 7 — 7 1 1 2 
			 Croatia 181 13 194 136 1 137 
			 Cuba 1,273 53 1,326 1,170 35 1,205 
			 Cyprus 320 187 507 258 181 439 
			 Czech Republic 1,320 70 1,390 199 7 206 
			 Democratic Republic of Congo 2,005 503 2,508 1,433 364 1,797 
			 Denmark 3 1 4 2 — 2 
			 Dependant Territory 1 — 1 — — — 
			 Djibouti 87 15 102 91 10 101 
			 Dominica 3 — 3 3 1 4 
			 Dominican Republic 1,318 199 1,517 963 86 1,049 
			 East Timor (Timor-Leste) — — — — — — 
			 Ecuador 2,169 319 2,488 1,835 282 2,117 
			 Egypt 19,787 2,558 22,345 20,040 2,857 22,897 
			 El Salvador 2 — 2 6 — 6 
			 Equatorial Guinea 171 4 175 109 4 113 
			 Eritrea 363 76 439 297 41 338 
			 Estonia 81 2 83 28 2 30 
			 Ethiopia 2,008 176 2,184 1,936 164 2,100 
			 Fiji 811 60 871 594 49 643 
			 Finland 13 5 18 6 4 10 
			 France 34 5 39 23 1 24 
			 Gabon 347 49 396 237 30 267 
			 Gambia 1,534 388 1,922 1,251 333 1,584 
			 Georgia 2,698 276 2,974 2,639 620 3,259 
			 Germany 4 — 4 4 — 4 
			 Ghana 9,559 2,024 11,583 8,837 1,862 10,699 
			 Greece 14 1 15 20 — 20 
			 Greenland — — — — — — 
			 Grenada 6 — 6 2 — 2 
			 Guatemala 11 1 12 12 2 14 
			 Guinea 529 52 581 488 42 530 
			 Guinea-Bissau 78 8 86 38 13 51 
			 Guyana 1,653 313 1,966 568 81 649 
			 Haiti 193 13 206 157 8 165 
			 Honduras 8 — 8 1 — 1 
			 Hong Kong 238 32 270 44 — 44 
			 Hungary 189 22 211 118 31 149 
			 Iceland 1 — 1 — 1 1 
			 India 185,143 26,897 212,040 174,657 25,259 199,916 
			 Indonesia 13,198 1,843 15041 11,871 1 561 13,432 
			 Iran 12,653 3,217 15,870 10,869 2,765 13,634 
			 Iraq 2,317 342 2,659 2,778 442 3,220 
			 Ireland 3 1 4 1 — 1 
			 Israel 98 6 104 60 7 67 
			 Italy 7 2 9 2 — 2 
			 Ivory Coast 1,204 176 1,380 1,181 182 1,363 
			 Jamaica 3,767 750 4,517 3,867 769 4,636 
			 Japan 421 8 429 452 10 462 
			 Jordan 7,494 1,116 8,610 7,835 1,177 9,012 
			 Kazakhstan 12,731 5,265 17,996 7,853 2,519 10,372 
			 Kenya 5,616 1,201 6,817 5,948 1,200 7,148 
			 Korea (North) 12 1 13 15 2 17 
			 Kosovo 13 6 19 33 30 63 
			 Kuwait 25,207 8,681 33,888 28,587 10,269 38,856 
			 Kyrgyzstan 758 104 862 484 63 547 
			 Laos 66 6 72 87 8 95 
			 Latvia 120 5 125 57 3 60 
			 Lebanon 8,140 939 9,079 7,155 742 7,897 
			 Lesotho 3 — 3 3 — 3 
			 Liberia 235 22 257 254 18 272 
			 Libya 4,304 1,245 5,549 5,317 1,392 6,709 
			 Lithuania 31 6 36 10 2 12 
			 Luxembourg 1 — 1 — — — 
			 Macau 5 — 5 3 — 3 
			 Macedonia 2,027 154 2,181 1,976 223 2,199 
			 Madagascar 308 26 334 312 22 334 
			 Malawi 1,158 227 1,385 976 169 1,145 
			 Malaysia 83 — 83 89 1 90 
			 Maldives 2 — 2 5 — 5 
			 Mali 385 25 410 410 25 435 
			 Malta 2 — 2 1 — 1 
			 Marshall Islands — — — — — — 
			 Mauritania 173 16 189 158 7 165 
			 Mauritius 635 105 740 585 71 656 
			 Mexico 574 34 608 166 39 205 
			 Micronesia — — — 1 — 1 
			 Moldova 960 108 1,068 767 103 870 
			 Mongolia 1,074 121 1,195 677 134 811 
			 Montenegro 5 — 5 252 139 391 
			 Montserrat — — — 1 — 1 
			 Morocco 6,047 1,009 7,056 5,241 883 6,124 
			 Mozambique 389 26 415 411 53 464 
			 Namibia 10 — 10 5 — 5 
			 Nauru 1 — 1 — — — 
			 Nepal 2,439 248 2,687 1,734 160 1,894 
			 Netherlands 5 — 5 2 — 2 
			 New Zealand 95 — 95 81 — 81 
			 Nicaragua 6 1 7 6 — 6 
			 Niger 139 13 152 91 14 105 
			 Nigeria 45,399 19,269 64,668 45,578 18,957 64,535 
			 None 7 — 7 1 — 1 
			 Norway — — — 67 16 83 
			 Oman 3,733 1,179 4,912 5,146 1,697 6,843 
			 Other 761 139 900 1,713 367 2,080 
			 Pakistan 28,194 13,344 41,538 26,507 11,510 38 017 
			 Palestinian Authority 520 100 620 92 9 101 
			 Panama 111 3 114 101 4 105 
			 Papua New Guinea 3 — 3 — —  
			 Paraguay 2 1 3 2 — 2 
			 Peru 3,706 286 3,992 2,822 272 3,094 
			 Philippines 12,872 1,408 14,280 12,530 1,356 13,886 
			 Poland 214 60 274 64 3 67 
			 Portugal 4 — 4 1 — 1 
			 Qatar 6,778 4,093 10,871 8,067 4,733 12,800 
			 Refugee (Art 1 1951 Convention) 542 147 689 440 129 569 
			 Romania 369 18 387 353 20 373 
			 Russia 104,478 11,960 116,438 97,915 20,461 118,376 
			 Rwanda 445 50 495 493 25 518 
			 Sao Tome And Principe 54 13 67 16 4 20 
			 Saudi Arabia 27,477 9,501 36,978 33,606 12,597 46,203 
			 Senegal 1,894 114 2,008 1,815 168 1,983 
			 Serbia 232 26 258 621 55 676 
			 Seychelles 3 2 6 — — — 
			 Sierra Leone 1,641 388 2,029 1,100 305 1,405 
			 Singapore 27 — 27 26 — 26 
			 Slovakia 120 6 126 71 6 77 
			 Slovenia 74 9 83 45 3 48 
			 Solomon Islands — — — — — — 
			 Somalia 253 27 280 187 23 210 
			 South Africa 199 20 219 293 53 346 
			 South Korea 120 6 126 98 10 108 
			 Soviet Union 3 — 3 3 — 3 
			 Spain 7 3 10 4 — 4 
			 Sri Lanka 8,023 3,038 11,061 7,757 2,607 10 364 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis 1 — 1 1 — 1 
			 St Lucia 11 — 11 8 2 10 
			 St Vincent 4 — 4 1 1 2 
			 Stateless (Art 1 1951 Convention) 595 148 743 479 126 605 
			 Sudan 4,571 1,258 5,829 3,618 838 4,456 
			 Surinam 157 45 202 109 7 116 
			 Swaziland 3 — 3 3 1 4 
			 Sweden 5 — 5 2 — 2 
			 Switzerland 5 1 6 — 1 1 
			 Syria 3,184 419 3,603 3,308 503 3,811 
			 Taiwan 22,705 2,875 25,580 19,431 2,579 22,010 
			 Tajikistan 257 39 296 263 21 284 
			 Tanzania 3,416 501 3,917 3,144 365 3,509 
			 Thailand 24,209 2,262 26,471 24,777 3,108 27 885 
			 Togo 264 17 281 252 26 278 
			 Tonga 3 — 3 — — — 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 125 4 129 137 16 153 
			 Tunisia 2,864 370 3,234 2,414 593 3,007 
			 Turkey 46,105 7,777 53,682 55,375 8,961 64,336 
			 Turkmenistan 443 52 495 492 139 631 
			 Uganda 3,888 498 4,386 3,782 577 4,359 
			 Ukraine 21,034 3,851 24,885 19,143 4,975 24,118 
			 United Arab Emirates 12,288 5,434 17,722 15,008 6,804 21,812 
			 United Nations 57 — 57 30 — 30 
			 United States 1 032 31 1,063 936 29 965 
			 Unspecified Nationality 2,823 858 3,681 1,813 431 2,244 
			 Uruguay 7 1 8 3 — 3 
			 Uzbekistan 1,021 61 1,082 1,210 199 1,409 
			 Vanuatu — — — 1 — 1 
			 Vatican 12 — 12 5 — 5 
			 Venezuela 55 2 57 50 4 54 
			 Vietnam 3,721 277 3,998 3,983 410 4,393 
			 Western Samoa 2 — 2 2 — 2 
			 Yemen 1,745 538 2,283 1,477 434 1,911 
			 Yugoslavia 10,092 1,598 11,690 10,259 1,977 12,236 
			 Zambia 2,327 517 2,844 1,971 445 2,416 
			 Zimbabwe 2,830 1,105 3,935 2,449 838 3,287 
			 Grand total 916,752 184,882 1,101,634 879,067 192,958 1,072,025

Extradition: USA

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was of  (a) legal aid and  (b) other costs incurred in respect of Article 20 of the Extradition Treaty in each case in which a British national has been extradited to the United States since 1 January 2004.

David Hanson: In the given period, the Legal Services Commission advises that legal aid totalling £70,830.70 was paid in 10 cases which involved the extradition of UK citizens from England and Wales to the USA. It is not otherwise possible to provide a complete or accurate breakdown of costs incurred in individual extradition cases by each Government Department and its supporting agencies. In each agency involved, the cases were dealt with as part of its overall and larger case load.
	The figure does not include legal aid which may have been granted in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Immigration Controls

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the United Nations on its new humanitarian centre at Calais; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Government maintain regular contact with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in the area of immigration.
	UNHCR intends to deploy a staff member to the Calais area to support local authorities and partners in the provision of accurate support and information for migrants in the area. The Government are not aware of a new humanitarian centre being provided by the UNHCR, and would remain firmly opposed to any kind of permanent accommodation centre that would attract illegal immigrants and the traffickers who prey on them.

Immigration: Gurkhas

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many former soldiers of Gurkha regiments are resident in the UK.

Phil Woolas: Since the rules this Government introduced in 2004 came into force, over 6,000 former Gurkhas and family members have been granted settlement in the UK.
	It is not possible to disaggregate the number of Gurkhas who are legally resident here in other categories of the immigration rules from other Nepalese citizens without the examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Sexual Offences: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to reduce the incidence of crimes related to sexual offences in Coventry in the last 12 months.

Alan Campbell: The Government are committed to tackling sexual violence across the country. In 2007, it published a three year national Cross Government Action Plan on Sexual Violence and Abuse. Since the publication of the action plan, the Government have taken a number of measures including introducing specially trained officers and specialist rape prosecutors; supporting police forces to develop rape action plans; and funding a pilot of a dedicated rape investigation team. In April 2009, the Government announced a package of measures, having worked closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), to help ensure that victims of sexual violence receive a consistent, high quality service in every force. These measures include a new Rape Performance Group, led by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to monitor police and CPS performance on rape and undertake continuous assessments of performance; new National Policing Improvement Agency 'best practice' guidance for the police and Crown Prosecution Service on investigating and prosecuting rape; an expert NPIA/ACPO/CPS support team to ensure consistent implementation of this new guidance; and helping every police force to ensure that all victims are seen by a specially trained officer within an hour of reporting.

UK Border Agency: Data Protection

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports the UK Border Agency has lost in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: Information relating to the number of passports that have been lost by the UK Border Agency in each of the past five years is not centrally recorded and therefore is not readily available.

UK Border Agency: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for the relocation of UK Border Agency offices to Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: There are no substantive plans at present to relocate departments or significant workstreams to Liverpool in a way that would substantially increase staff numbers at that location.

UK Border Agency: Pay

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the UK Border Agency and its predecessor bodies paid in staff bonuses over  (a) £10,000,  (b) £50,000 and  (c) £100,000 in 2008.

Phil Woolas: For the financial year 2008-09:
	
		
			   Total employees 
			 UK Border Agency staff paid a bonus of over £10,000 14 
			 UK Border Agency staff paid a bonus of over £50,000 0 
			 UK Border Agency staff paid a bonus of over £100,000 0

JUSTICE

Community Orders

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many arrest warrants issued in respect of breaches of the terms of community sentences are outstanding; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many warrants in respect of breach of community orders have been outstanding for  (a) less than 12 months,  (b) between 12 months and two years,  (c) between two and three years,  (d) between three and four years,  (e) between four and five years and  (f) five years or more.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice does not hold information centrally on the number of warrants in respect of breach of community orders that have been outstanding for the periods asked for. Data are available on the number of warrants outstanding and the number of arrest warrants that were issued as at 30 April 2009 for England and Wales. These are set out in the table. These data come from an internal management system that was developed and introduced in October 2005, which is subject to minimal levels of quality assurance and is based on the data currently available.
	
		
			  Community penalty breach warrants—as at 30 April 2009 
			  England and Wales  Number 
			 Outstanding warrants for breaches of community orders 7,982 
			 Number of arrest warrants issued 7,545

Crimes of Violence: Reoffenders

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted of serious violent offences and who served sentences of under two years duration re-offended in each year since 2000.

Maria Eagle: The table shows the one year adult reoffending rates for offenders in England and Wales released from custody in the first quarter (1 January to 31 March) of the years 2000 to 2007, who served a custodial sentence of less than two years for a serious violent offence. The table shows the proportion of offenders who committed at least one further offence and the frequency of offences per 100 offenders.
	
		
			  One year reoffending rates, offenders leaving custody, 2000-07 who served a custodial sentence of less than two years for a serious violent offence 
			   Number of offenders  Number of reoffenders  Actual reoffending rate  Number of offences per 100 offenders 
			 Q1 2000 346 107 30.9 100.6 
			 Q1 2002 391 115 29.4 94.6 
			 Q1 2003 343 93 27.1 98.5 
			 Q1 2004 349 75 21.5 78.8 
			 Q1 2005 307 70 22.8 66.8 
			 Q1 2006 283 65 23.0 73.1 
			 Q1 2007 241 63 26.1 72.6 
			  Note: Data for 2001 are unavailable due to problems with archived data 
		
	
	Further information on the one year rates of reoffending can be found in
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffendingofadults.htm.
	Appendix G contains a list of serious violent offences.
	The figures for reoffences include offences of all types. An offender whose original offence was serious violence and who reoffended, may not have committed any more serious violent offences.
	While the small cohort size makes these measures highly volatile, there has been a decline in both the actual reoffending rate and the number of reoffences committed since 2000.

Crimes of Violence: Reoffenders

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders were charged with each category of violent offence whilst under supervision by the Probation Service in each of the last five years.

Jack Straw: The available information is shown in the table. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) holds statistical information on the number of offenders charged with serious further violent offences while under probation supervision. However, this does not include all types of violent offence.
	The table contains data on the number of offenders, managed by the National Probation Service for England and Wales, who were charged with certain violent offences, where there was a requirement initially to notify NOMS, in line with Serious Further Offence Probation Circulars 06/2006 and 41/2006.
	Data is only held for 2006-07 onwards. Data for 2008-09 will be published in the annual Offender Management Caseload Statistics (OMCS), which is scheduled for publication on 31 July. This will also include those offenders who were notified to NOMS, in line with the Serious Further Offence Probation Circular 22/2008 which took effect on 1 December 2008. OMCS provide the offence breakdown by conviction rather than charge, where notified cases have proceeded to a review. I will write to the hon. Member with an updated table, once OMCS are published, showing the number of offenders who were charged with serious violent offences for 2008-09.
	
		
			  Serious further offence breakdown of all cases notified to NOMS PPU between 1 April 2006 and 30 September 2008 
			   England and Wales notifications 
			  Serious violent offence description  2006-07  2007-08  1 April 2008 to 30 September 2008 
			 Aggravated burglary (section 10 of the Theft Act 1968) — 26 75 
			 Aggravated theft 75 59 — 
			 Aggravated vehicle-taking involving an accident which caused the death of any person (Section 12A of the Theft Act 1968) — — 1 
			 Arson (section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971) 90 93 42 
			 Attempt to cause explosion, or making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property (section 3 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883) — — 1 
			 Attempt to commit murder or a conspiracy to commit murder 47 62 21 
			 Attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle in order to commit or assist in committing an indictable offence (section 21 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861) — 1 — 
			 Burglary with intent to: (a) inflict grievous bodily harm on a person or (b) do unlawful damage to a building or anything in it. (section 9 of the Theft Act 1968) — 11 17 
			 Carrying a firearm with criminal intent (section 18 of the Firearms Act 1968) — 2 1 
			 Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult, also called 'familial homicide' (Section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004) — — — 
			 Causing death by careless driving when under influence of drink or drugs (section 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988) 1 2 2 
			 Causing death by dangerous driving (section 1 of the Road Traffic Act 1988) 14 8 6 
			 Destroying or damaging property other than an offence of arson (section 1 (2) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971) — 1 — 
			 False imprisonment 56 60 35 
			 Kidnapping 65 76 39 
			 Manslaughter 7 9 4 
			 Murder 129 107 64 
			 Other explosives offences 2 — — 
			 Other offences against the person 22 15 1 
			 Other serious violent offence 92 65 5 
			 Possession of firearm at time of committing or being arrested for offence specified in Schedule 1 to that Act (section 17(2) of the Firearms Act 1968) — 5 10 
			 Possession of firearm with intent to endanger life (section 16 of the Firearms Act 1968) — 4 20 
			 Robbery or assault with intent to rob (section 8 of the Theft Act 1968) 1 11 18 
			 Use of firearm to resist arrest (section 17(1) of the Firearms Act 1968) — — — 
			 Serious firearms offences (SFO) 55 96 — 
			 Soliciting murder (section 4 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861) — — 1 
			 Wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (section 18 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861) 454 567 352 
			 Total 1,110 1,280 715

Departmental Billing

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of invoices his Department and its agencies paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The MOJ has only been collecting performance data for the proportion of invoices paid within 10 days of receipt of a supplier invoice since November 2008. Performance since that date is sent out in the table.
	
		
			   Percentage paid within 10 day target  Number of invoices paid within 10 days 
			 November 2008 64 63,307 
			 December 2008 59 58,743 
			 January 2009 55 57,679 
			 February 2009 67 67,693 
			 March 2009 66 82,116 
			 April 2009 82 65,422 
			 May 2009 92 61,462 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice is fully committed to achieving compliance with the Prime Minister's target of paying suppliers within 10 days where possible, and is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code.
	The Ministry recognised that its performance against the target needed to improve, and it implemented a prompt payment improvement programme to address the issue. The results for April and May indicate that this programme is beginning to have an effect.

Legal Aid

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many solicitor's firms in  (a) England,  (b) the South West,  (c) Devon and  (d) East Devon provided legal aid services in each of the last 10 years.

Bridget Prentice: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, figures for the numbers of solicitor offices in England and Wales providing legal aid services in each year since 2002-03 are available and are shown in the following table. Prior to the introduction of the civil unified contract in April 2007 and criminal unified contract in July 2008, legal aid providers delivering services in more than one office would hold separate contracts for each of those offices. In addition, where providers have decided not to continue providing civil legal aid services, they may nevertheless still have an account or accounts with the Legal Services Commission while they continue to deal with their remaining clients.
	Over the period there has been a downward trend in the overall number of solicitor offices dealing with legal aid. This is because there has been a continuing process of offices that do only small amounts of legal aid work leaving the market or merging with other offices, so that the work is done in larger volumes at fewer offices. In addition, the Legal Services Commission has over time sought to terminate dormant accounts where no work was being done.
	
		
			   Civil  Crime 
			 2002-03 5,372 2,967 
			 2003-04 5,245 2,832 
			 2004-05 5,099 2,695 
			 2005-06 4,106 2,630 
			 2006-07 3,708 2,534 
			 2007-08 3,627 2,230

Legal Aid: South West

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons legal aid expenditure in the South West has decreased since 2004-05.

Bridget Prentice: The decrease in expenditure in the South West is primarily due to reduced expenditure on criminal matters.
	The largest share of this was in the Crown court and here the reported decline is at least in part, only apparent. This is because with the development of contracting for very high cost cases, expenditure on these is assigned to the office from which the contract is managed, rather than the court in which the case is heard. Most high cost cases heard in the Crown court in the South West are not managed in that region.
	There has also been a decline in representation costs in the magistrates courts. This is due to the reintroduction of the means test for legal aid.

Probation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders under Probation Service supervision were categorised as Tier 4 in each of the last five financial years.

Jack Straw: The total number of offenders in England and Wales who were categorised as Tier 4 as at 31 March in each of the last three years was as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2006 28,407 
			 2007 37,555 
			 2008 40,117 
		
	
	Information on tier prior to 1 April 2005 was not recorded.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Probation

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many years experience a probation officer is required to have before being assigned to a violent offender.

Jack Straw: All probation officers undergo a two year training course before qualifying which equips them to deal with a wide range of offenders including those who commit violent offences. The local probation area holds responsibility for the allocation of a probation officer or probation service officer to an individual offender. The most serious offenders should be allocated to the most experienced and competent probation officers available.

TRANSPORT

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Databases

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will require with immediate effect the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to deny access to data on motorists and vehicles to any company which is in breach of the British Parking Association code.

Paul Clark: Private car-parking companies who request vehicle keeper data, via electronic means must be a member of the British Parking Association's (BPA) Approved Operator Scheme (AOS). Ongoing membership requires compliance with BPA's code of practice.
	A consultation exercise has recently concluded on extending this requirement to also include private car parking companies who request data via the paper based process. The responses are currently being analysed. The effect of the proposed changes would be that all private car-parking companies will have to comply with the BPA's code if they wish to obtain keeper information from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Driving: Licensing

Michael Fallon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport for what reason holders of non-UK driving licences who have taken and failed a UK driving test are permitted to drive in the UK on a non-UK licence for up to 12 months following their arrival in the UK.

Paul Clark: Holders of non-UK driving licences may continue to drive in the UK for up to 12 months to build experience of traffic conditions and laws in Britain.

Driving: Licensing

Michael Fallon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many holders of non-UK driving licences have taken the UK driving test in each of the last 10 years; and how many have failed the test.

Paul Clark: Provisional entitlement for the relevant category of vehicle is required before a UK driving test can be taken. Holders of non-UK licences must obtain a UK licence in order to obtain the necessary provisional entitlement.
	EU member state licence holders who hold a valid EU licence who wish to obtain further licence categories may obtain a UK counterpart document, which gives the provisional entitlement that allows the holder to take a test in that category.
	The Driving Standards Agency does not hold details of previous licences held by driving test candidates.

London Gateway Port

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects the London Gateway Port to commence operation.

Paul Clark: The construction and opening for operation of London Gateway port is a matter for the port developer.

Motor Vehicles: Foreigners

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many foreign-registered cars entered the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Paul Clark: Information relating to the number of foreign registered cars entering the UK is not recorded.

Motor Vehicles: Foreigners

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what mechanism his Department uses to establish whether a foreign-registered car has been driven in the UK for a period of longer than six months.

Paul Clark: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records details of foreign registered vehicles as they are circulating in the UK from a range of sources. These include its own automatic number plate recognition cameras, reports from members of the public, the police, local authorities and DVLA's wheel-clamping contractor. This information allows, on second and subsequent sightings, the length of time a vehicle is likely to have been circulating in the UK to be calculated, supporting wheel-clamping and impounding of non-compliant vehicles as appropriate.

Motor Vehicles: Foreigners

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many formerly foreign-registered cars were registered in the UK in each of the last three years.

Paul Clark: The following figures provide the number of vehicles previously registered abroad that have been registered in the UK in each of the last three financial years.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2008-09 75,101 
			 2007-08 95,038 
			 2006-07 93,233

Motor Vehicles: Foreigners

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of foreign-registered cars using UK roads which did not re-register within six months in the latest period for which information is available.

Paul Clark: The information requested is not held.

Road Traffic

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what methodology is used by his Department and its contractors to monitor levels of congestion on rural, urban and inter-urban roads.

Sadiq Khan: The methodologies for the Department's inter-urban and urban congestion PSA indicators can be found on the DfT website at the following web addresses:
	 Inter-urban
	www.dft.gov.uk/adobepdf/162469/221412/221546/226956/coll_congestiononthestrategicroa/cs r07revisedbaseline.pdf
	 Urban
	www.dft.gov.uk/about/howthedftworks/psa/spending review2004psatargets2
	While strategic A-roads in rural areas are included in the inter-urban indicator, there is no separate indicator for rural roads.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the effect of the frequency of the re-siting of fixed speed cameras on road safety.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has not assessed the effect of the frequency of the re-siting of fixed speed cameras on road safety. Any decision to re-site a fixed speed camera is entirely a matter for individual road safety partnerships and the practice is not monitored by the Department. DFT circular 01/2007, "Use of Speed and Red-light Cameras for Traffic Enforcement: Guidance on Deployment, Visibility and Signing" encourages road safety partnerships to, at least annually, review all their existing camera sites and other collision hot spots. A copy of the guidance is in the Libraries of the House and is also available on the Department's website.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Fisheries: Manpower

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time British sea fishermen have been operating in UK waters in each year since 1997.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Latest published information from Table 2.6 of UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2007 showing the number of fishermen operating on UK registered vessels is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of fishermen on UK register vessels 
			   Regular  Part-time  Total 
			 1997 14,832 3,772 18,604 
			 1998 14,436 3,453 17,889 
			 1999 13,864 3,032 16,896 
			 2000 12,399 3,250 15,649 
			 2001 12,145 2,813 14,958 
			 2002 11,442 2,763 14,205 
			 2003 10,204 2,918 13,122 
			 2004 11,023 2,430 13,453 
			 2005 10,492 2,339 12,831 
			 2006 10,358 2,576 12,934 
			 2007 10,033 2,696 12,729 
		
	
	We are not able to identify the number of fishermen operating in UK waters.

Fisheries: Quotas

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what share of the sea fishing quota for  (a) plaice,  (b) cod and  (c) halibut in the Irish Sea is held by fishermen using vessels of under 10 metres.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In 2009, the 10 metre and under fleet received an initial quota share prior to adjustments of 4.6 per cent. (30.2 tonnes) for plaice and 1.6 per cent. (10.6 tonnes) for cod caught in the Irish sea. Irish sea halibut is not subject to a quota. The Marine and Fisheries Agency significantly increases the fishing opportunities of stocks such as Irish sea plaice which are targeted by inshore fishermen.

Fishing Vessels

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fishing vessels of  (a) 10 metres and under and  (b) over 10 metres are licensed in the UK.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Latest published information from Table 2.2 of UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2007 shows that at 31 December 2007 there were 6,670 licensed UK registered fishing vessels. Of these, 1,515 were over 10 metres in length and 5,155 were 10 metres or under in length.

Rats

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on rat prevalence and the frequency of refuse collection from multiple occupation properties in the last three years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My Department has not commissioned nor evaluated any research on rat prevalence and the frequency of refuse collection from multiple occupation properties in the last three years. However, the latest report on rodent presence in domestic properties as revealed by the English House Condition Survey data for 2002-03 and 2003-04 is available on DEFRA's website. Key findings are that the occurrences of rats inside and outside properties in these years are not significantly different from those observed in 2001. The next report covering the period up to 2006 should be available this year, although at present there is no set date for publication. There is no breakdown in the English House Condition Survey to identify rat populations in multiple occupation properties.

Rats

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on trends in resistance to poisons in the rat population.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I am not aware that DEFRA holds any information on trends in resistance to poisons in the rat population that is not in the public domain.
	The former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food funded an assessment of resistance to rodenticides in 1998. This was published in: "Kerins, G.M.; Dennis, N.; Atterby, H.; Gill, J.E. and MacNicoll A.D. (2001) Distribution of resistance to anti-coagulant rodenticides in the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus Berk) in England 1995-98". In: "Advances in Vertebrate Pest Management Volume II (Eds. H-J Pelz, D.P. Cowan and C.J. Feare) pages 149-159, Filander Verlag, Furth".
	The Health and Safety Executive is aware from literature that rats may be becoming increasingly resistant to anti-coagulant rodenticides. Although it is aware of the research mentioned above, it is not aware of any new studies and has not itself commissioned any recent work of this nature.

WALES

Departmental Billing

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what proportion of invoices his Department has paid within 10 days of receipt in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The percentage of invoices paid by my Department within 10 days, for the last 12 months is:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			  2008  
			 June 72 
			 July 89 
			 August 94 
			 September 92 
			 October 85 
			 November 90 
			 December 98 
			   
			  2009  
			 January 91 
			 February 98 
			 March 99 
			 April 100 
			 May 97 
		
	
	Changes to payment of invoices were announced by the Prime Minister on 8 October 2008; invoices paid prior to this date had a 30-day payment target for which my Department achieved a 99 per cent. payment score.

HEALTH

Children in Care: Kent

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the former children's home Kendall House.

Phil Hope: The Department no longer holds any information on Kendall House. Files including those relating to the social services inspectorates' inspections of Kendall house were transferred to the then Department for Education and Skills, (now the Department for Children Schools and Families) when responsibility for children's social services was transferred to that Department in 2003.

Drugs

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements there are upon pharmaceutical companies to report information on medicines for human use to his Department.

Gillian Merron: All marketing authorisation holders of medicines for human use in the European Union are obliged by law to provide information on the safety of their products under Regulation 726/2004 and Directive 2001/83/EC (as amended). Detailed guidance is provided in Volume 9A of the Rules Governing Medicinal Products in the European Union and is available at the following link:
	http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/pharmaceuticals/eudralex/vol9_en.htm
	Obligations relating to reporting in clinical trials are given in Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC, Articles 16 and 17. Some obligations are associated with specific deadlines for provision of information to competent authorities. Those related to safety of medicines include the submission of serious, suspected adverse drug reactions; the submission of Periodic Safety Update reports; and with respect to clinical trials, the reporting of suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions.

Health Services: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to improve services for  (a) cancer,  (b) accident and emergency,  (c) paediatric and  (d) geriatric patients in Coventry.

Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally. It is for primary care trusts to commission services in line with local needs and the priorities set out in "The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2009-10". A copy of this document is already available in the Library.
	The target that no patient would spend more than four hours in accident and emergency (A&E) departments from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge was set in the NHS Plan in 2000. The target became an operational standard in 2005.
	In 2003, a 98 per cent. minimum operating figure was set for delivery of the access standard to allow for the minority of patients who clinically need more than four hours in A&E.

Health Services: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to improve health services for victims of sexual crimes in Coventry.

Ann Keen: The Department is working with the Home Office to deliver the Response to Sexual Violence Programme. The aim is to set up more sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) in line with the Home Secretary's commitment to increasing provision to one per police force area. SARCs are intended to provide a holistic service for the victims of sexual assaults, including meeting the victim's clinical needs as well as a forensic examination, counselling and the opportunity to give evidence anonymously.
	The Department has also announced £1.4 million for the National Support Team on Response to Sexual Violence, which will work in local areas to bring together experts from the health service, forensics services, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to advise on meeting local needs.
	Within the West Midlands area the police and local partners are working together to agree a strategic approach for providing sexual violence services.

Immediate Care

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many immediate care beds there are in England; and in which units such beds are located.

Mike O'Brien: The phrase 'hospital services delivering 24 hours, immediate patient care' was used in the United Kingdom governments' notification to the European Commission of the intention to take up the option of a derogation under Article 17(5) of the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). The phrase was recommended by the national EWTD Reference Group as the most appropriate descriptor to identify those services most likely to be challenged in implementing rotas for a 48 hour week for doctors in training from 1 August. There is no central collection of data, nor central definition of immediate care beds.

Intensive Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are used to allocate funding for intensive care beds.

Mike O'Brien: It is for local healthcare providers, working with healthcare commissioners to determine the allocation of funding for intensive care in accordance with their local population characteristics, anticipated case mix and level of elective and emergency activity.

Intensive Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to hospitals to assist them in determining the optimum number of intensive care beds.

Mike O'Brien: Local healthcare providers, working with their commissioners and supported by critical care networks determine the optimum number of critical care beds required to meet the needs of their local populations taking account of anticipated case mix and level of activity. They are supported in this by the long-term strategy document published in May 2000 "Comprehensive Critical Care." A copy has been placed in the Library.

NHS: Public Consultation

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his latest assessment is of the effectiveness of local involvement networks; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The legal duty to ensure local involvement network (LINk) activities are carried on rests with local authorities. It is their responsibility to make sure that the contract with the host organisation provides that the support given to the LINk ensures the LINk is as effective as possible.
	Each year LINks must produce an annual report setting out what they have achieved, the activities they have undertaken, the money they have spent on their activities and the impact they have had. Reports have to be completed by 30 June and must be made publicly available. Copies have to be sent to the Department and these will be analysed to see what, if any, additional national support would be appropriate.

Patients: Death

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients representing what proportion of admissions died in  (a) intensive care units,  (b) theatre and  (c) other wards in each NHS hospital in each of the last 10 years; and how many and what proportion of people attending accident and emergency departments died while in the department in each accident and emergency department in each such year.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not collected centrally.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operations of provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan which are beyond their military remit; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The mission of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) is to extend the ability of the government of Afghanistan to deliver its services and this is conducted in a comprehensive manner by military and civilian personnel. The remit of a PRT is not military in nature, but rather uses military resources to facilitate its activities.
	For example, the UK's PRT spent around £60 million in Helmand in 2008 on stabilisation and development and now has over 80 civilian staff in the province. This assistance has built nearly 2,000 wells benefiting over 400,000 people, contributed to 160 district infrastructure projects reaching over 300,000 families and provided paid work for nearly 19,000 people. The PRT has also supported projects on dispute resolution, which saw considerable progress in 2008: the Helmand Provincial Court is operating more effectively; convictions have risen 400 per cent. since June; and legal representation, including a legal aid office, has been introduced.

China: Censorship

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on steps taken by the Chinese government to close access to websites commenting on the 20th anniversary of the events in Tiananmen Square; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We are aware that access to a large number of foreign and domestic websites in China was blocked in the run up to the 4 June anniversary. Encouraging greater freedom of expression in China, including for domestic and foreign media, remains a priority for us. We urge the Chinese Government to lift restrictions which undermine the fundamental principles of international human rights standards on freedom of expression. We raised the subject of internet access at the last UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January 2009.

Czech Republic: Treaty of Lisbon

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Czech government on Czech ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Europe have regular contact with their EU counterparts in other member states. These discussions include a wide range of bilateral, European and international issues.

Departmental Finance

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to page 14 of the National Audit Office's report on the financial management of his Department, HC 289, what arrangements his Department has made with HM Treasury to carry forward unspent funds into future years through the system of end year flexibility; and whether there have been any changes to these arrangements in the last two financial years.

David Miliband: The take-up of end year flexibility (EYF) carry over of unspent funds into future years is subject to normal Treasury scrutiny on the basis of need, and in the light of the wider fiscal position. In 2008-09 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office took up £17.3 million EYF. There have been no formal changes to the EYF arrangements in the last two financial years.

European Union: Civil Servants

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff there were at each grade at the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in each year since 1997.

Chris Bryant: At present staff at each grade at the UK Permanent Representation to the EU are:
	
		
			   Number 
			  In the senior management  
			 SMS4 1 
			 SMS3 1 
			 SMS2 1 
			 SMS1 12 
			   
			  In the delegated grades  
			 D7 4 
			 D6 37 
			 C5 2 
			 C4 26 
			 B3 6 
			 A2 5 
			   
			  Staff employed locally  
			 LEI 6 
			 LEII 5 
			 LEIII 29 
			 LEIV 5 
		
	
	To collate a year-by-year breakdown would incur disproportionate cost. The general staffing levels at the UK Permanent Representation have remained reasonably consistent in recent years.

Iraq: Iran

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to Iraqi authorities on the security of the residents of Ashraf City.

Ivan Lewis: Our ambassador in Baghdad called on the Iraqi Human Rights Minister, Wijdan Salim, on 13 April 2009 this year to raise the issue of Camp Ashraf and make her aware of the level of interest in this issue in the UK. We took the opportunity to remind her of the Government of Iraq's earlier assurances towards the proper treatment of the residents of Ashraf. In addition, officials at our embassy in Baghdad have undertaken consular visits to Camp Ashraf to clarify whether any residents qualified for UK consular assistance.
	The Iraqi Government have made assurances that no Ashraf residents will be forcibly transferred to a country where they have reason to fear persecution, or where substantial grounds exist to believe they would be tortured.

Middle East

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his  (a) Israeli,  (b) Egyptian and  (c) Palestinian counterparts on the commitment of the Government together with the US, Norway, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark to implement measures to prevent arms smuggling from Iran into the Gaza Strip.

Ivan Lewis: The matter of counter weapons-smuggling to armed groups in Gaza is part of our regular discourse on Middle East Peace Process issues with the EU, US and regional partners, including Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. Stopping the flow of weapons along with ensuring humanitarian and reconstruction access to Gaza are vital elements to securing a lasting ceasefire.

Middle East

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made on his undertaking together with Italy, Germany and France, to provide naval resources to stop the flow of weapons from Iran into the Gaza Strip.

Ivan Lewis: Taking action to prevent the smuggling of arms into Gaza plays a key role in consolidating the ceasefire.
	We will continue to work closely with the EU, US and regional partners to establish how best our expertise, including naval resources, can be used. Officials are attending a meeting on prevention of arms smuggling to Gaza in Ottawa on 10-11 June 2009. This is a follow up meeting to the ones held in Copenhagen and London where a programme of action was agreed by the nine participating countries (Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US).

Poland: Treaty of Lisbon

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Polish government on Poland's ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Europe have regular contact with their EU counterparts in other member states. These discussions include a wide range of bilateral, European and international issues.

Republic of Ireland: Treaty of Lisbon

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Irish Government on Ireland's ratification of the treaty of Lisbon; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The Irish Government updated partners in Brussels on their views on preparing the June European Council discussion during the course of the week beginning 25 May 2009. My right hon. Friend, the then Minister for Europe, Caroline Flint, wrote on 5 June 2009 to the chairs of European Scrutiny Committee and the Lords EU Select Committee updating them on these discussions. Copies of this letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Tibet

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 522W, on Tibet, what report was made to him by those officials who visited the Tibet Autonomous Region in May 2009.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Bill Rammell, on 8 June 2009,  Official Report, column 694W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made towards creating a plan for the digital migration of radio.

Ben Bradshaw: We have worked closely with a wide range of industry stakeholders since the publication of the Interim Digital Britain Report. We will set out the findings, alongside our proposals for the future of radio, in the Digital Britain Final Report, which will be published shortly.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions the Digital Radio Delivery Group has met.

Ben Bradshaw: The Digital Radio Delivery Group has met four times.

Football Foundation: Finance

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with  (a) the Football Association and  (b) the Premier League on the funding of the Football Foundation; and what financial commitments to the Foundation have been agreed for each year to 2012.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 8 June 2009
	I have regular discussions with the Football Association and the Premier League about football matters, including issues relating to the Football Foundation.
	The current agreed annual financial commitment to the Football Foundation by each of the three funding partners is currently £15 million and runs to the end of the financial year 2009-10.

Heroes Return 2 Scheme

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many veterans have received funding under the Heroes Return 2 scheme.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 8 June 2009
	Through the Big Lottery Fund's Heroes Return 2 programme 1,184 veterans have received funding. This funding has offered WW2 veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland the opportunity to visit the places where they saw active service or to take part in an official commemoration in the UK.

UK Film Council: Pay

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which  (a) employees and  (b) board members of the UK Film Council receive a salary higher than the Ministerial salary of a Secretary of State; and what the salary is in each case.

Barbara Follett: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Four UK Film Council employees receive a salary higher than a Secretary of State. In accordance with the UK Film Council's annual report and accounts disclosure of senior staff salaries, not including the chief executive officer, is given in salary ranges.
	
		
			  Employee  Position  Salary 
			 John Woodward Chief Executive Officer £170,171 
			 Sally Caplan Head of Premiere Fund £165,000-£170,000 
			 Tanya Seghatchian Head of Development Fund £165,000-£170,000 
			 Will Evans Head of Business Affairs £155,000-£160,000 
		
	
	 (b) Board Members of the UK Film Council do not receive remuneration.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made.

Ann McKechin: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, the Scotland Office is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
	The Scotland Office has made no such notifications.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Local Government: Reorganisation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission what financial consultants were used by the Boundary Committee to model the possible costs of unitary local government in  (a) Devon,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Suffolk; and at what cost.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that the Boundary Committee engaged three independent financial consultants to consider the affordability of its draft proposals for Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk. They are Chris Wheeler CPFA, Tony Hall CPFA and Ken Bell CPFA. The committee also engaged Dr. Eric Fisher CPFA to undertake a peer review of their affordability assessments. All were contracted through CIPFA Placements.
	The cost to date is £279,949. This figure accounts for work undertaken in relation to Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk from March 2008 to 10 June 2009.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much has been raised from all dedicated London 2012 Olympic Lottery games  (a) in total and  (b) in each quarter of 2008-09.

Barbara Follett: I have been asked to reply.
	As at 31 March 2009, the total contributed to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund (OLDF) from designated Olympic Lottery games is £390.4 million.
	The amount contributed to the OLDF from designated Olympic Lottery Games in each quarter of financial year 2008-09 is:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Quarter 1 31.2 
			 Quarter 2 43.6 
			 Quarter 3 27.3 
			 Quarter 4 24 
		
	
	The National Lottery Commission publishes quarterly reports detailing the level of funds that have been transferred to the OLDF. These are available on its website:
	www.natlotcomm.gov.uk/client/content.ASP?ContentId=234

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her most recent estimate is of the cost of hosting London 2012 Olympics events at the ExCel centre in London.

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games at existing venues. The direct costs associated with staging the events at existing venues come from LOCOG's revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
	There will be attributable costs to the public purse, for example in respect of the security and transport functions associated with the venue. However these costs have not yet been identified separately for individual venues, but they will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.

Olympics Games 2012: Safety

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what progress has been made by the Government Office for London in its corporate plan aim to develop and implement resilience plans to ensure the safety of the London 2012 Olympics.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	As part of the wider Home Office led 2012 Olympics safety and security programme, the Government Office for London is currently assessing where further work may be required to ensure that we have the necessary capabilities (i.e. plans, staff, facilities etc.) in London to respond to Olympic specific resilience risks to the safety and security of the Games. Once this analysis is complete, the Government Office for London will take forward a programme of work to build any new capabilities that are required, or enhance existing capabilities, to ensure that relevant risks are effectively managed.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made.

Paul Goggins: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, the Northern Ireland Office is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
	The Northern Ireland Office has reported on personal data breaches in the 2007-08 annual resource account and this can be found at:
	http://www.nio.gov.uk
	We will be publishing information on personal data security breaches reported to the Information Commissioner for the 2008-09 reporting year before Parliament rises in July. The information is currently being compiled and is to be audited and verified before it is laid before Parliament.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Bus Services: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners resident in Denton and Reddish constituency who have received a free bus pass and free eye test.

Angela Eagle: As part of the implementation of the new England-wide concession, which guarantees older and eligible disabled people free off peak travel on local buses anywhere in England, all concessionary passes are now issued as smartcards to a new standard design. Local authorities are responsible for issuing passes, and so central Government does not maintain records of how many individual authorities have issued, though we do know that around eight million passes have now been issued in total across England.
	The last information held by the Department for Transport was that as of 31 March 2009, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, which administers the concession for residents of Denton and Reddish, had issued around 460,000 of the new smartcard concessionary passes. This includes applications from disabled people as well as those aged 60 and over.
	The Department of Health has been unable to provide the number of NHS-funded sight tests for those aged 60 and over in the Denton and Reddish constituency. Information is provided by Primary Care Trust (PCT) and by Strategic Health Authority (SHA) but is not available by parliamentary constituency.
	The number of NHS sight tests for those aged over 60, in 2007-08 is available in Table B3 of Annex C of the General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales: Year Ending 31 March 2008 report. This report, published on 20 November 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gosactivitv0708p2
	From 1 April 1999, eligibility for an NHS sight test was extended to everyone aged 60 or over. Patients may qualify for an NHS sight test on more than one criterion. However, they would only be recorded against one criterion on the form. Patients are more likely to be recorded according to their clinical need rather than their age. For example, a patient aged over 60 with glaucoma is likely to be recorded in the glaucoma category only. The count by eligibility is therefore approximate. Patients may also have had more than one sight test in the specified time period.
	2007-08 is the latest full year for which information is available. Information for 2008-09 is expected to be published by the NHS Information Centre in August 2009.

Cold Weather Payments: Scotland

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received the extra cold weather payment of £60 awarded for the winter of 2008-09 in  (a) Scotland,  (b) Glasgow and  (c) Glasgow South West constituency.

Angela Eagle: The £60 payment was a Christmas bonus. More than 15 million customers have been paid this additional Christmas bonus following the Chancellor's pre-Budget announcement on 24 November 2008.
	Information about the number of Christmas bonus recipients in specific areas is not available, because the data are not collected in a form which would allow us to identify the geographical location of customers.
	For the available estimates on the number of eligible pensioners in each parliamentary constituency, I refer the hon. member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) on 23 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 99-100W.
	For cold weather payments, the information requested is not available. Estimates of the number of people who received a cold weather payment during the winter of 2008-09 are not available geographically other than by weather station area. Some weather stations cover areas which straddle the border between Scotland and England.

Jobcentre Plus: Digital Technology

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the principles of digital inclusion are applied to Jobcentre Plus.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 20 April 2009
	The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked the acting chief executive to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the principles of digital inclusion are applied to Jobcentre Plus. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus supports the principles set out in the Government's Digital Inclusion Action Plan and the work of the Cabinet Committee set up last year to ensure that everyone, especially disadvantaged people, benefits from the use of digital technologies in delivering public services.
	I recognise how important this is for Jobcentre Plus and for our customers. Many of the people we help are disadvantaged and some are amongst the most vulnerable members of society. We are tackling that challenge by extending access to our online services and by helping people to acquire the confidence and ability to use those online services.
	Job vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus can be accessed online, through digital television and through Jobpoint Kiosks located in all of our local Jobcentres. We are now starting to replace and upgrade that network of Jobpoints. We are also exploring making some online services accessible by mobile telephone which, like digital television, are more extensively owned and used by our customers than home computers.
	Customers can already access information which enables them to answer some basic enquiries about their benefit entitlement through the online Benefit Adviser service on Directgov. Later this year customers will be able to make their claim for benefit online and that service will be extended in 2010 to enable customers to track progress of their claim and notify changes of circumstances through a secure personal account. We are also planning to make these services available to intermediaries and welfare rights organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux so that customers can access them there or be helped by those organisations to use them.
	It is equally important that we provide help for those customers who need to become confident about using digital services. Through the work-focused interviews carried out by our Personal Advisers, we identify people who could benefit from that help and refer or signpost them to a wide range of information technology training offered through DWP's Employment Programmes, Learndirect or UK Online centres.
	I also recognise the importance of ensuring that our services are accessible to disabled people or people with other barriers to using digital technology. Our online services are compliant with the Government's Web Accessibility Standards, compatible with the main assistive software packages including JAWS, Dragon, Supernova and Zoomtext. All our services are also accessible by telephone or through our local Jobcentres for those people who need it or who find it difficult to access online services. Later this year, we will be able to offer a new "Text Box" service which will improve the service we provide to speech and hearing impaired people over the telephone.
	I recognise that improving digital inclusion is essential to ensuring that all our customers can benefit from the improvements in service that digital technologies can provide to help them move off welfare and into work.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions she has had with representatives of motor industry employees on private pensions for  (a) retiring and  (b) retired motor industry employees.

Angela Eagle: Ministers and officials have had discussions with representatives of motor industry workers and others about the level of Pension Protection Fund compensation payable to individuals who started to draw pensions from their pension scheme before they reached the scheme's normal pension age.

Pension Credit

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of pensioners not claiming pension credit for which they are eligible.

Angela Eagle: Maximising the take-up of benefits is crucial to tacking pensioner poverty. Since its introduction in October 2003 the number of pensioners in relative low income has reduced by around 500,000.
	We want to increase take-up of pension credit and council tax benefit and are working hard to encourage those entitled but not yet claiming to do so.
	In order to increase take-up of pension credit and council tax benefit we introduced further simplifications to the claims process so that pensioners can now claim state pension, pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit in one easy free phone call, without the need to sign and return any claim forms.
	The Pension, Disability and Carers Service will continue to promote take-up of benefits by those entitled. It will continue to press forward with data matching to identify eligible non-recipients, home visits for vulnerable customers and ever closer working with partner organisations. We are rolling out a targeted take-up campaign across 20 regions where our insight suggests there are a high number of eligible non-recipients of pension credit. The approach involves local service teams working closely with national and local partners, both in planning and delivering the campaign to ensure we are using all available knowledge to deliver a highly effective take-up campaign.
	The new campaign, launched in Sheffield and North Kent in January 2009, is designed to engage with the local pensioner population, using channels of communication and organisations that are likely to be familiar, for example WRVS, Mecca bingo, voluntary organisations. In some areas, for example the North East, the campaign will be extended to the wider region.
	In addition, we are taking powers in the Welfare Reform Bill to allow us to pilot new approaches that make better use of the information Government already have available to it for this purpose.

Pension Credit

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in each local authority area are in receipt of pension credit; and what the average payment in each such area was in 2008.

Angela Eagle: The information requested will be placed in the Library.

Pensioners

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Plymouth are estimated to have received a  (a) free bus pass,  (b) free television licence and  (c) free eye test.

Angela Eagle: The information is as follows:
	  (a) As part of the implementation of the new England-wide concession, which guarantees older and eligible disabled people free off peak travel on local buses anywhere in England, all concessionary passes are now issued as smartcards to a new standard design. Local authorities are responsible for issuing passes, and so central Government does not maintain records of how many individual authorities have issued, though we do know that around 8 million passes have now been issued in total across England.
	The latest information held by the Department for Transport was that, as of 7 April 2008, Plymouth city council had submitted approximately 36,419 applications for the new smartcard concessionary passes to their pass supplier. This includes applications from disabled people as well as those aged 60 and over.
	 (b) TV Licensing, which administers free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, can provide breakdown only by postcode. However, according to the records of the Department for Work and Pensions the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in the Plymouth Devonport and Plymouth Sutton constituencies in 2007-08 was 13,950. Figures for 2008-09 are still being compiled.
	 (c) The number of NHS-funded sight tests for those aged 60 and over in the Plymouth area during 2007-08 was 29,696.
	2007-08 is the latest full year for which information is available. Information for 2008-09 is expected to be published by the NHS Information Centre in August 2009.

Pensioners

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many UK pensioners formerly resident overseas have returned to live in the UK in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The following table shows the numbers of pensioners now living in Great Britain receiving the UK state pension who were previously in receipt of their pension overseas:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 7,920 
			 2005 8,960 
			 2006 8,820 
			 2007 8,390 
			 2008 9,270 
			  Notes: 1. Great Britain is defined via the country code recorded on the Pension Service Computer System. Excludes claimants returning from Northern Ireland. 2. British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are classified as overseas in this analysis. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, November 2003-November 2008

Remploy

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of those formerly employed in Remploy factories which have been closed in the last three years have subsequently found alternative employment with Government assistance.

Jonathan R Shaw: [holding answer 4 June 2009): Because of data protection regulations, Remploy are not able to share personal details of those employees leaving the factories with the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Department for Work and Pensions does not keep records on Remploy ex-employees separately. It is therefore not possible to provide information about the proportion of people formerly employed at Remploy factories who have found work with Government assistance.
	Remploy has provided the information as follows on the 1,637 people who left the factories under the modernisation of the company:
	Remploy last contacted these former employees in March 2009, but only received responses from 635 (38 per cent.).
	Of the 635 replies, 178 people (28 per cent.) have confirmed they are in work.
	232 former factory employees remain employed by Remploy. Of these, 108 are working at a host company on a permanent contract, 80 are on a job placement and 44 are still looking for work.

State Retirement Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the basic state pension payable to eligible  (a) men and  (b) women in (i) 2010, (ii) 2015, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2025 and (v) 2030; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Basic state pension expenditure, Great Britain 
			   2010-11  2015-16  2020-21  2025-26  2030-31 
			  £ billion, cash  
			 Men 24 34 47 63 87 
			 Women 32 39 50 69 99 
			   
			  £ billion, 2008-09 prices  
			 Men 23 28 34 40 47 
			 Women 30 32 36 43 54 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £ billion. 2. Forecasts of basic state pension expenditure in 2010-11 are based on the Budget 2009 forecasts. Basic state pension expenditure forecasts from 2015-16 onwards are based on the latest published long-term projections which were published Budget 2008. 3. The real terms figures are calculated from the Budget 2008 GDP deflator.  Source:  Budget 2009 forecasts and Budget 2008 long-term projections.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Cabinet: Glasgow

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much expenditure was incurred by his Department in respect of the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
	(2)  what car journeys he undertook in attending the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009;
	(3)  how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) officials of his Department accompanied him to Glasgow for the Cabinet meeting on 16 April 2009;
	(4)  what expenditure on  (a) travel,  (b) accommodation and  (c) food (i) he and (ii) officials in his Department incurred in connection with the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009.

Douglas Alexander: The Secretary of State for International Development was not accompanied by officials to the Cabinet meeting on 16 April. He was joined at the venue by his two special advisers who were visiting the Department's joint headquarters in Glasgow on departmental business on the day in question. The Department for International Development (DFID) incurred a total expenditure of £543.65 relating to the Cabinet Office meeting, which was solely for travel. Two car journeys were undertaken.
	For further information in relation to the Cabinet and public engagement event held in Glasgow on 16 April I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 487W.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for how long his Department has followed the Carbon Trust's Energy Efficiency programme.

Michael Foster: DFID has been working closely with the Carbon Trust on our energy efficiency programme since 2006, when they carried out energy assessment reports on our UK buildings.

Developing Countries: Trade

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the likely effect on levels of employment in each country in  (a) Africa,  (b) Latin America and  (c) Asia of the completion of the World Trade Organisation Doha Round.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not calculated the impact of the completed Doha Development Agenda (DDA) on employment levels. However, one of the most significant impacts of a Doha deal for these continents will be the expected increase in income. A World Bank study gives estimates of annual increases in income as a result of a Doha deal as follows:
	$400 million for Sub-Saharan Africa;
	$7.9 billion for Latin America and the Caribbean;
	$8.1 billion for East and South Asia.
	DFID is working to ensure that a final DDA deal delivers on its development mandate.

TREASURY

Banks: Regulation

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what reports he has received from the Financial Services Authority on the results of its stress testing of British banks; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will direct the Financial Services Authority to publish the results of its stress testing of UK banks; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The FSA made a statement on stress tests on 28 May 2009. This statement is available online at:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2009/068.shtml

Departmental Drinking Water

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on bottled water in each of the last two years;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on water coolers in each of the last two years.

Kitty Ussher: Since June 2008, meetings at the Treasury's 1 Horse Guards Road building have been supplied with in-house bottled filtered water, rather than bottled water sourced from outside suppliers. It is not possible to separately identify costs of bottled water prior to June 2008 as this forms part of the cost of meeting refreshments that includes teas and coffees, bottled water and biscuits.
	Water coolers were used in the Treasury's Norwich building at a cost of £2,250 in 2007-08. The cost for 2008-09 forms part of the Treasury's resource account which is due for publication in the summer following audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The use of water coolers at the Norwich office is being discontinued following their replacement with plumbed in machines.

Departmental Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many days in the last year  (a) the Union Flag and  (b) no flag has been raised above his Department's main building.

Kitty Ussher: The Union Flag flies permanently above 1 Horse Guards Road.

Insurance: Motor Vehicles

Linda Riordan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of regulating the practice of pressing for early settlement in the motor insurance industry.

Ian Pearson: The matter raised in this question is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority, whose day-to-day operations are independent from Government control and influence. The FSA will respond to the hon. Member directly.

Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander: Isle of Man

Mark Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what requests for assistance he has received from the Isle of Man Government relating to compensation of account holders with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man).

Ian Pearson: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
	Arrangements for depositors in banks in the Isle of Man are a matter for the Government of the Isle of Man.

Loans: Interest Rates

Kate Hoey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of using his power under section 2(4)(b) of the Inner Urban Areas Act 1978 to alter the interest rates for loans obtained from local authorities under section 2 of that Act.

Ian Austin: I have been asked to reply.
	No such assessment has been made.

Private Finance Initiative: Waste Disposal

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the effects on contracts for waste disposal services of Government policy on the private finance initiative.

Kitty Ussher: Treasury Ministers have discussions with a variety of individuals and organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
	Government policy, as announced on 3 March, is to ensure vital infrastructure projects proceed as planned, supporting jobs and the economy and preparing for future recovery. This includes PFI waste projects.

Revenue and Customs: Closures

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1183W, on HM Revenue and Customs: closures, in which constituency each property planned to be vacated in 2009-10 is located.

Stephen Timms: The following table lists those offices where HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) plans to withdraw back office operations in 2009-10 as part of HMRC's regional review programme, the constituency in which each office is located and whether or not it provides inquiry centre services. Where an office housing an inquiry centre closes, the inquiry centre services will be retained at or near the current location so face to face services to HMRC's customers will not be affected.
	
		
			  Town  Building  Inquiry centre  Constituency 
			 Andover London Street Yes North West Hampshire 
			 Ashton-under-Lyne Oakglade House Yes Ashton-under-Lyne 
			 Belfast Olivetree House No Belfast West 
			 Brierley Hill Capstan House No Dudley South 
			 Bristol Woodlands Court No Northavon 
			 Bromley Northside House Yes Bromley and Chislehurst 
			 Burton upon Trent Crown House Yes Burton 
			 Bury Minden House Yes Bury North 
			 Cheadle Boundary House No Cheadle 
			 Chester Eden House No City of Chester 
			 Chesterfield Dents Chambers No Chesterfield 
			 Coatbridge Muiryhall Street Yes Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 
			 Coleraine Mill House No East Londonderry 
			 Cowes The Watch House No Isle of Wight 
			 Crewe Crewe House Yes Crewe and Nantwich 
			 Derby St. James House No Derby North 
			 Dumbarton Meadowbank St Yes West Dunbartonshire 
			 Edinburgh Clarendon House No Edinburgh North and Leith 
			 Edinburgh Saughton House No Edinburgh South West 
			 Enniskillen Custom House No Fermanagh and South Tyrone 
			 Finchley Gateway House Yes Finchley and Golders Green 
			 Glasgow Blythswood House No Glasgow Central 
			 Greenock Dalrymple Street Yes Inverclyde 
			 Hamilton Barrack Street Yes Lanark and Hamilton East 
			 Harlow Terminus House No Harlow 
			 Hastings Ashdown House Yes Hastings and Rye 
			 Haywards Heath Oaklands Yes Mid Sussex 
			 Horsham Exchange House No Horsham 
			 Hove Martello House No Hove 
			 Huntingdon Chequers Court Yes Huntingdon 
			 Inverness Longman House No Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 
			 Kendal Kentmere House No Westmorland and Lonsdale 
			 Leigh Boardman House Yes Leigh 
			 Liverpool Norwich House No Liverpool, Riverside 
			 Liverpool Regian House Yes Liverpool, Riverside 
			 London Lyndhurst House, Mill Hill Yes Hendon 
			 Lytham St. Anne's Petros House Yes Fylde 
			 Maidstone Concorde House No Maidstone and The Weald 
			 Middlesbrough Fountain Court Yes Middlesbrough 
			 Motherwell Civic Square Yes Motherwell and Wishaw 
			 Newbury Elizabeth House Yes Newbury 
			 Norwich Rosebery Court No Norwich North 
			 Nottingham Bowman House No Nottingham South 
			 Nottingham Huntingdon Court No Nottingham South 
			 Oldham Phoenix House Yes Oldham West and Royton 
			 Paisley Gilmour House Yes Paisley and Renfrewshire South 
			 Plymouth Custom House No Plymouth, Sutton 
			 Salford Anchorage 2 No Salford 
			 Skipton Cavendish House Yes Skipton and Ripon 
			 Southampton Queen's Keep No Southampton, Itchen 
			 Stockport Wellesley House No Denton and Reddish 
			 Stockton Dunedin House No Stockton South 
			 Sutton Helena House Yes Sutton and Cheam 
			 Swansea Custom House No Swansea East 
			 Swindon Spring Gardens No South Swindon 
			 Taunton Riverside Chambers No Taunton 
			 Truro Pydar House No Truro and St. Austell 
			 Tunbridge Wells Union House No Tunbridge Wells 
			 Walthamstow Church Hill Yes Walthamstow 
			 Wembley Valiant House Yes Brent South 
			 Whitehaven Blencathra House Yes Copeland 
			 Widnes Kingsway House Yes Halton 
			 Worthing Teville Gate House Yes Worthing West

Tax Avoidance

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effects of clause 37 of Schedule 17 to the Finance Bill will have on HM Revenue and Customs' ability to prevent tax avoidance.

Stephen Timms: Clause 37 and Schedule 17 introduce a reporting requirement for business that replaces the current Treasury Consent rules. This will provide HM Revenue and Customs with early notice of high value cross-border transactions that change the capital structure of multinational groups. This information will be used in considering whether these transactions may have been put in place to avoid tax, and complements other existing anti-avoidance measures. The information provided will also inform policy making, enabling legislation to be introduced where necessary to close down avoidance schemes.

Taxation: Investment Income

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on Exchequer revenue of raising the dividend ordinary tax rate to 20 per cent. and the dividend upper tax rate to 40 per cent.

Stephen Timms: Raising the dividend ordinary and upper rates to 20 per cent. and 40 per cent. respectively is likely to involve significant behavioural effects. The estimated yield incorporating these behaviour costs can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Taxation: Rebates

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets have been set in respect of the time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to process applications for tax refunds; and what the average time taken to process such applications was in each year since 2005.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) seek to strike a balance between issuing repayments as quickly as possible for the benefit of customers and ensuring that the Exchequer is adequately protected against fraud. Therefore some tax repayment claims are subject to security checks, which may delay repayments from being made.
	Refunds made from online self-assessment (income tax and capital gains tax) returns are normally made within seven days. For paper returns, HMRC identify returns on receipt marked 'repayment' and process these as priority. Sampling of income tax self-assessment repayments from October 2008 to April 2009 indicates that 90 per cent. of repayments are consistently made within 30 days.
	Inheritance tax and national insurance contribution repayments are processed in line with and meet the HMRC's departmental objective 2, i.e. 80 per cent. of cases to be cleared within 15 working days and 95 per cent. to be cleared within 40 working days.
	For PAYE, 99.3 per cent. of repayment claims arising from tax on investment income deducted at source in 2008-09 were processed within 15 working days of receipt against a target of 97 per cent.
	Refunds processed from online self-assessment corporation tax returns are normally made within seven days.
	Full data for previous years is not available.

VAT: Sunscreens

Bruce George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue accrued to the Exchequer from value added tax on sun protection products in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07 and  (c) 2007-08.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.

Welfare Tax Credits: Telephone Services

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will allocate 0300 telephone prefixes to  (a) the Tax Credit Helpline and  (b) the Child Benefit Helpline; and if he will estimate the likely level of savings to (i) his Department and (ii) service users of introducing such a change.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs operates 0845 numbers for the majority of its customers facing helplines and has no immediate plans to allocate 0300 telephone prefixes to the tax credit helpline or the child benefit helpline.
	HMRC keeps its numbering strategy under regular review. However, there is no single numbering solution that meets all of HMRC's customers' needs, as call charges to customers are dependent on the tariff arrangements they have with their service provider, the device they use for the call and the location from which they call.
	The differing tariff arrangements for customers mean that HMRC is unable to estimate the overall likely savings of any such change to service users. Some customers will pay more, others will pay less and for others there will be no change.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Air Pollution: Airports

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps are being taken to include emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide from aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Joan Ruddock: During the negotiation of European directive 2008/101/EC, which includes aviation in the EU emissions trading system, UK-led pressure secured a commitment from the European Commission to come forward with a proposal to regulate nitrogen oxide emissions from aviation. A proposal has not yet been tabled, but the UK continues to press the Commission to produce one.

Carbon Emissions

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure the co-ordination of information from Government departments and agencies in respect of energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: Since 2007, the Government have run high-profile marketing campaigns to engage citizens on climate change issues. These serve to address the confusion and powerlessness which can impede people from taking action, and encourage genuine and sustained behaviour change to help reduce carbon emissions and meet the UK emissions targets.
	These campaigns have been run under the umbrella of ACT ON CO2, a Government-led and multi-partnered behaviour change brand, which aims to provide clarity and consistency across different communications on climate change and, by extension, energy efficiency. The ACT ON CO2 website aims to signpost, interact, coordinate and engage consumers on climate change, providing a clear, consistent, authoritative and credible voice. The website allows other Government departments to build and add further climate change information as and when necessary.
	The ACT ON CO2 website, which includes a carbon footprint calculator as the key engagement tool, supports and amplifies all campaign activity. In running the website, DECC aims to maximise opportunities to 'cross-sell' behaviour messages between all climate change communications from Government departments, NGOs and other partners. DECC, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport, Communities and Local Government, the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust all provide information and advice or run campaigns, or both, under ACT ON CO2. An ACT ON CO2 toolkit has been developed to help facilitate a consistent message and approach.
	Additionally DECC is in regular contact with other relevant Government departments and delivery bodies such as the Energy Saving Trust and Carbon Trust to share communication plans and identify potential opportunities to work together to the benefit of consumers. DECC explicitly instructs its media buying agencies to avoid clashes in scheduling of advertising.
	DECC also shares analyses and findings on energy savings of various energy saving technologies with the Energy Saving Trust to ensure a consistent approach.
	The Government also provide a range of information and support to help businesses improve their energy efficiency, including through the Carbon Trust and Regional Development Agencies. We are taking steps to make that information easier to access through Business Link website at:
	www.businesslink.gov.uk
	as part of the cross-Government Solutions for Business programme.

Fuel Poverty: Elderly

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, what percentage of fuel poor homes in  (a) the North West Region and  (b) the UK are the primary residence of at least one person over 65 years.

Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2006. Around 36 per cent. of fuel poor households in the North West Region contained at least one person aged 65 or over. In England, 45 per cent. of fuel poor households contained at least one person aged 65 or over. Comparable figures are not available for the UK.

Fuel Poverty: North West

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, how many fuel poor households there are in each local authority area in the North West.

Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which estimates of fuel poverty are available at sub-regional level is 2003. This sub-regional data for fuel poverty levels in 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset, available online at:
	http://www.fuelpovertyindicator.org.uk/
	Fuel poverty figures for local authorities in the North West are shown as follows for 2003:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Allerdale 2,700 
			 Barrow in Furness 2,200 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 3,900 
			 Blackpool 4,400 
			 Bolton 7,100 
			 Burnley 2,700 
			 Bury 4,700 
			 Carlisle 2,900 
			 Chester 3,100 
			 Chorley 2,600 
			 Congleton 2,200 
			 Copeland 2,100 
			 Crewe and Nantwich 3,000 
			 Eden 1,500 
			 Ellesmere Port and Neston 2,100 
			 Fylde 2,000 
			 Halton 3,200 
			 Hyndburn 2,400 
			 Knowsley 4,200 
			 Lancaster 3,700 
			 Liverpool 14,200 
			 Macclesfield 3,700 
			 Manchester 11,900 
			 Oldham 5,700 
			 Pendle 2,600 
			 Preston 3,600 
			 Ribble Valley 1,400 
			 Rochdale 5,500 
			 Rossendale 1,800 
			 Salford 6,400 
			 Sefton 8,000 
			 South Lakeland 2,800 
			 South Ribble 2,500 
			 St. Helens 4,900 
			 Stockport 7,300 
			 Tameside 5,800 
			 Trafford 5,500 
			 Vale Royal 3,100 
			 Warrington 4,800 
			 West Lancashire 2,800 
			 Wigan 8,300 
			 Wirral 9,200 
			 Wyre 2,900

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Transport

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of UK  (a) carbon dioxide and  (b) other greenhouse gas emissions arising from (i) road travel, (ii) rail travel, (iii) domestic energy use, (iv) agriculture, (v) shipping and (vi) hovercraft in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: The 2007 estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions were published on 3 February 2009. These statistics represent the most up-to-date information available, and can be accessed from the following link at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/globatmos/index.htm
	The proportion of UK greenhouse gas emissions from (i) road transport, (ii) railways, (iii) residential use, (iv) agriculture and (v) domestic shipping in each year since 1997 are shown in the following table. Please note that statistics for emissions from hovercrafts are included within the domestic shipping sector.
	These percentages are based on emissions calculated on an 'End User' basis i.e. the emissions are reallocated from the production and distribution of energy to the users of that energy.
	
		
			  Percentage contribution of specified sectors towards total emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, 1997 to 2007 by end-user 
			  Gas/sector  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  (a) Carbon dioxide
			 (i) Road transport 24.6 24.4 24.9 24.4 24.0 25.4 24.7 24.6 24.9 24.6 25.2 
			 (ii) Railways 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 
			 (iii) Agriculture 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 
			 (iv) Residential 25.6 26.6 26.2 26.7 27.3 27.2 27.3 27.5 26.9 26.9 26.2 
			 (v) Domestic shipping 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.0 
			  (b) All greenhouse gases
			 (i) Road transport 19.6 19.6 20.6 20.4 20.4 21.5 21.2 21.2 21.5 21.3 21.8 
			 (ii) Railways 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 
			 (iii) Agriculture 8.8 8.7 9.0 8.6 8.2 8.5 8.3 8.3 8.2 8.1 7.9 
			 (iv) Residential 21.2 22.2 22.5 23.1 24.0 23.9 24.1 24.4 24.0 24.0 23.4 
			 (v) Domestic shipping 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.6 0.7 1.0 0.9 
			 
			  (c) Other greenhouse gases (non-CO 2 )
			 (i) Road transport 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.4 
			 (ii) Railways 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 (iii) Agriculture 34.2 35.1 40.6 40.9 41.2 43.2 45.2 46.3 46.8 46.9 46.8 
			 (iv) Residential 5.9 6.4 6.9 6.9 7.5 7.6 7.2 7.4 7.6 7.6 7.3 
			 (v) Domestic shipping 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Renewable Energy: Research

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the benefits of increased expenditure on research and development in environmentally friendly technologies for  (a) the UK,  (b) the North East and  (c) Tees Valley.

Joan Ruddock: The Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) oversees R and D projects under its collaborative R and D portfolio.
	Strategic reviews of LINK, the predecessor scheme to collaborative R and D, indicate that the scheme generated research broadly comparable in terms of quality to research funded by the Research Councils. In addition to this, the LINK review concluded that there had been substantial commercial benefits that enabled more business-relevant long term research, providing a benefit cost ratio of up to 3.8 to 1 and increased profit between £250 million and £500 million.
	A more recent review of the first three calls of this portfolio (formerly under DTI's Collaborative Research Programme) also concluded that the net present value of returns from successful projects is well above the investment cost. There is evidence of a high degree of 'additionality', which would not be expected if the projects were likely to produce very high private returns on average. Significant scope for 'positive spillovers' also exists. The most important factor influencing the extent of spillovers is the commercialisation of project outputs. A broad consortium was also found to enhance spillovers.
	The Regional Development Agency (RDA) for the North East region, One NorthEast, has not done any direct work assessing the benefits of increased expenditure. It is the role of the RDAs to promote the economic growth of their region through the development and implementation of a regional economic strategy. Innovation as a driver of productivity is a key priority in these plans.
	The North East regional economic strategy and action plan has placed significant focus on economic change through energy and environment technologies. This shared regional strategy is based on extensive stakeholder consultation and analysis. It is this knowledge of the region, its assets and industries that informs collaborations and interventions with organisations such as the Technology Strategy Board.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Class Sizes

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how much funding the Government have allocated to reducing class sizes in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much funding his Department has allocated to recruiting teachers in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: Local authorities are responsible for the distribution of funding (including funding provided through the dedicated schools grant (DSG)) to schools in their area. Each local authority in consultation with their Schools Forum can choose to include a factor in their funding formula to direct resources to schools with infant classes to enable them to meet the class size duty. The Department does not collect information on how much funding was allocated to recruiting teachers for Essex and Castle Point schools. In 2008-09 the final DSG amount for Essex local authority was £755 million. The 2009-10 final DSG amount for Essex is yet to be published.

GCSE

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in how many and what proportion of secondary schools  (a) at least 30 per cent. and  (b) at least 50 per cent. of pupils achieved five GCSEs at grade A* to B in each year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

GCSE: History

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils who sat a GCSE in history at mainstream maintained schools gained a grade of A* to C in that subject in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested can be found in the following table:
	
		
			  Number and proportion of pupils who sat GCSE history at mainstream maintained schools and who gained an A* to C grade in that subject in each year since 1997 
			   Number  Percentage 
			 1997 98,528 52.8 
			 1998 91,137 54.1 
			 1999 95,133 56.3 
			 2000 97,814 57.5 
			 2001 100,260 57.5 
			 2002 100,891 58.5 
			 2003 103,715 59.9 
			 2004 110,869 60.6 
			 2005 112,615 62.3 
			 2006 115,212 62.6 
			 2007 114,692 63.7 
			 2008 116,272 64.5 
			  Note: The 1997-04 data are based on 15-year-old pupils at the start of the academic year. The 2005-08 data are based on pupils at the end of KS4.  Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables

Overseas Students: Entry Clearances

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what effect the implementation of Tier 4 of the points-based system for immigration has had on applications from abroad to UK independent schools.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	The Home Office Data Systems records the number of applications made by child students applying under the points-based system, but it does not record the number of those studying at UK independent schools. This information could be obtained only by manually cross-checking a large number of individual case files, which could be completed only at disproportionate cost.
	It is therefore not possible to generate a report to compare the number of applicants coming to study at UK independent schools, before or after the introduction of Tier 4. It should also be borne in mind that Tier 4 was introduced on 31 March, and its impact will not have settled down yet.

Schools: Internet

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding the Government have allocated to the development of internet or e-based learning in schools in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The Department does not keep records of data on funding allocations in the form requested.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect of Part 8 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 on the maintenance of high hedges; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: No formal assessment has yet been made of the effect of part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, which came into force on 1 June 2005. Informal feedback suggests that the legislation is helping to end the misery caused by overgrown hedges, and many disputes are being resolved voluntarily.

Commonhold and Leasehold Act 2002

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consultation his Department has undertaken with leaseholders on sections 152 and 153 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Act 2002 referring to statements of account in the last two years.

Ian Austin: The latest consultation exercise on section 152 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (statement of account) took place in July 2007. Consultation exercises were carried out prior to this in November 1998, August 2000, and June 2004.
	These exercises have informed the amendments to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 which are contained in schedule 12 to the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.
	Consultation on section 153 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (Notice to accompany demands for service charges) last took place in August 2006. Prior to this consultation took place in October 2002 and June 2004. This provision came into force from 1 October 2007 and requires landlords to send a summary of tenants' rights and obligations relating to service charges with demands for service charges, to contain information prescribed in regulations.

Council Tax: Valuation

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average change in the level of Band D council tax was in  (a) England,  (b) Devon and  (c) East Devon in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Details of the changes in the level of Band D council tax in  (a) England,  (b) Devon and  (c) East Devon in each year since 1997 are available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/local governmentfinance/counciltax/

Eco-towns: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 14 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 996-97W, on eco-towns, how much his Department plans to spend on stage 2 of the Financial Viability Study of the eco-towns programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: Our external advisers will shortly be completing stage 2 of their work to support the assessment of the economic viability of the shortlisted eco-town locations. Given that this work has not been completed it would not be appropriate to provide a total cost at this stage.

Eco-towns: Publicity

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 108-10W, on eco-towns: expenditure, what his Department's expenditure on communications, marketing, public relations, design and media on eco-towns has been to date.

Ian Austin: The Department will publish a breakdown of expenditure in relation to promoting the eco-towns public consultation on its website in conjunction with the publication of its next annual report.

Empty Property: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of properties in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point were vacant in each of the last five years.

Ian Austin: Vacant dwellings as a proportion of all residential dwellings in Castle Point and Essex in each of the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   Castle Point  Essex 
			 1 November 2004 1.8 2.6 
			 10 October 2005 2.0 2.8 
			 9 October 2006 2.2 2.9 
			 8 October 2007 2.4 2.8 
			 6 October 2008 2.4 3.1 
		
	
	Data for Essex are the proportion of all dwellings in the individual billing authorities including Castle Point but excluding figures for Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock unitary authorities.
	The data are as reported annually to Communities and Local Government on the CTB and CTB (Supplementary) forms that are completed by all billing authorities in England. The data relate to particular dates in the autumn of each year.

Flood Control

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made in implementing a service level agreement to ensure co-ordination between the recovery operations of different authorities during a flood; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement.

Rosie Winterton: The Government offices in the regions have the responsibility of ensuring coherence and co-ordinating between recovery operations of different authorities during a flood. The 'Core Regional Resilience Capability' document, which formalises this role, was agreed in December 2008 and is now in force.
	I am today placing a copy of this document in the Library.

Home Information Packs

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what guidance his Department issues on the continued marketing of a home with a home information pack which lacks  (a) a local property search and  (b) leasehold information after 28 days from the first day of marketing have elapsed;
	(2)  what guidance his Department has issued to home information pack (HIP) providers on the provision of HIPs in  (a) hard and  (b) electronic copy.

Ian Austin: The Procedural Guidance on the Home Information Pack (No.2) Regulations 2007 provides guidance on these matters. The guidance is available on the CLG website at:
	www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/hipregulations
	The explanatory note on section 156 of the Housing Act 2004 provides further guidance on the rules governing the provision of copies of the HIP. The explanatory notes on the 2004 Act are available at
	www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/en/ukpgaen_20040034_en_1

Homes and Communities Agency

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 1505-06W, on the Homes and Communities Agency, what the keywords or search terms monitored in the press by  (a) the Homes and Communities Agency and  (b) the Tenant Services Authority were in each of the last three months.

Ian Austin: The keywords or search terms used by  (a) the Homes and Communities Agency and  (b) the Tenants Services Authority in each of the last three months are shown in the following lists:
	 February 2009
	 Tenant services authority
	Tenant Services Authority
	TSA
	Peter Marsh
	Anthony Mayer
	Housing Corporation
	Homes and Communities Agency
	2008 Housing and Regeneration Act
	Margaret Beckett (in connection with housing)
	CLG (in connection with housing)
	Housing Associations + housing
	Local authorities + housing
	 Homes and Communities agency
	Homes and Communities Agency
	HCA
	English Partnerships
	Milton Keynes Partnership
	Academy for Sustainable Communities
	ASC
	HCA Academy
	Homes and Communities Agency Academy
	Brownfield Skills
	Regeneration
	 March 2009
	 Tenant Services Authority
	Tenant Services Authority
	TSA
	Peter Marsh
	Anthony Mayer
	Housing Corporation
	Homes and Communities Agency
	2008 Housing and Regeneration Act
	Margaret Beckett (in connection with housing)
	CLG (in connection with housing)
	 Homes and Communities Agency
	Homes and Communities Agency
	HCA
	English Partnerships
	Milton Keynes Partnership
	Academy for Sustainable Communities
	ASC
	HCA Academy
	Homes and Communities Agency Academy
	Brownfield Skills
	Regeneration
	 April 2009
	 Tenant Services Authority
	Tenant Services Authority
	TSA
	Peter Marsh
	Anthony Mayer
	Homes and Communities Agency
	CLG (in connection with housing)
	 Homes and Communities Agency
	Homes and Communities Agency
	HCA
	English Partnerships
	Milton Keynes Partnership
	Academy for Sustainable Communities
	ASC
	HCA Academy
	Homes and Communities Agency Academy
	Brownfield Skills
	Regeneration

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what transfers of underspend in one Government office region the Homes and Communities Agency has allocated to other Government office regions in respect of 2008-09.

Ian Austin: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was established from 1 December 2008. From that date until 31 March 2009, for those programmes which transferred to the HCA from Communities and Local Government, the HCA did not make any transfers of funding between regions. Nor were there any transfers of funding between regions in 2008-09 within the HCA's Property and Regeneration programme (this programme was delivered by the former English Partnerships in 2008-09 prior to 1 December 2008). There were however transfers of funding between regions during 2008-09 within the National Affordable Housing programme (this programme was delivered by the investment arm of the Housing Corporation in 2008-09 prior to 1 December 2008); this information is being collated and will be placed in the Library shortly.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many applications for planning permission for zero carbon homes were  (a) requested and  (b) granted in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many planning applications for zero carbon homes have been made in each Government office region in each of the last 12 quarters;
	(3)  how many zero carbon homes have been  (a) started and  (b) completed in each of the last three years;

Ian Austin: While information is collected centrally on housing planning permissions, starts and completions, this does not separately identify zero carbon homes. Furthermore there is no requirement for local planning authorities to keep records which separately identify zero carbon homes.

Housing: Construction

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 107W, on the design for manufacture programme, if he will place in the Library a copy of the initial study commissioned by the Homes and Communities Agency from the chartered surveyors in 2008.

Ian Austin: The purpose of the chartered surveyors' interim report was to aid HCA's understanding of the progress being made by developers in achieving the £60,000 target cost across the Design for Manufacture Competition.
	The work comprised a sampling exercise that was not designed to be published because it would be likely to mislead the reader as to the performance of developers and building systems over time. Releasing this partial information could unfairly prejudice the commercial interests of developers and their supply chains.
	The HCA plans to disseminate lessons learned from the competition once the final costs have been received, and based on a more comprehensive analysis of the completed outturn costs for all developers over the life of the competition.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of initial equity was purchased on average under the Social HomeBuy scheme in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The following table shows the average equity value of properties purchased under Social HomeBuy schemes in England since 2006-07, when the Social HomeBuy scheme started.
	
		
			  Social HomeBuy 
			   Average value of equity (£) 
			 2006-07 132,630 
			 2007-08 143,740 
			 2008-09 127,480 
			  Source: Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Investment Management System (IMS)

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the average sale price of a property purchased under the  (a) Social HomeBuy,  (b) Right to Acquire and  (c) Right to Buy scheme was in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the average monetary value of a domestic property in the social sector in each of the last five years.

Ian Austin: The following table shows the average price of a property purchased under Social HomeBuy, Right to Acquire and Right to Buy in England, for each year since 1997-98.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Social HomeBuy  Right to Acquire  Local authority Right to Buy  Registered social landlord Right to Buy 
			 1997-98 — — 43,100 48,910 
			 1998-99 — — 45,490 51,110 
			 1999-2000 — — 48,950 53,050 
			 2000-01 — — 51,090 52,510 
			 2001-02 — 47,190 53,520 50,780 
			 2002-03 — 54,600 58,660 59,370 
			 2003-04 — 65,540 66,840 58,630 
			 2004-05 — 71,920 77,180 64,210 
			 2005-06 — 83,230 83,470 72,160 
			 2006-07 157,010 87,110 92,770 81,960 
			 2007-08 155,860 108,100 103,470 89,750 
			  Source: PIB quarterly returns to CLG from local authorities, and Continuous Recording (CORE) returns from Registered Social Landlords to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) 
		
	
	CLG does not collect information about average monetary values of social housing properties. The figures are for the average property price of social homes sold by social landlords under the Social HomeBuy, Right to Acquire and Right to Buy schemes in England.
	These property price figures are based on the total property price, not the amount paid by the purchaser, who is entitled to a discount on the market value and may only be purchasing a share of the equity in the property.
	The average property price is not shown for the Right to Acquire sales prior to 2001-02, due to a low number of sales in each year.
	2008-09 figures are not yet available from CORE.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2009,  Official Report, columns 447-48W on housing: low incomes, what the average percentage equity stake purchased by a buyer has been in each year in which each of the schemes has been operational.

Ian Austin: The following table shows the initial average percentage equity stake purchased by a buyer in each year since each scheme has been operational.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  Product  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Social HomeBuy 85 89 84 
			 Open Market HomeBuy 78 85 68 
			 MyChoice HomeBuy n/a n/a 65 
			 Own Home n/a n/a 65 
			 First Time Buyers Initiative 53 53 56 
			  Source:  Homes and Communities Agency's Information Management System.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what amounts were transferred from one region to another with respect to the regional allocations for the National Affordable Housing Programme in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The information requested is being collated and will be placed in the House Library shortly.

Non-domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which were the groups described as representing ratepayers who expect significant rises in their rate bills and who are pressing for a five-year scheme on page 15 of the document NNDR Transitional Arrangements: Consultation, published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in August 2004; and if he will make a statement.  [Official Report, 16 July 2009, Vol. 496, c. 5MC.]

Rosie Winterton: A full list of those consulted is at Annex B to the Consultation document published in August 2004. A total of 66 responses were received. 41 responded in favour of a four-year transitional scheme. Nine respondents favoured a five-year transitional scheme. These are as follows:
	British Chamber of Commerce;
	Broadland District Council;
	Drax Power Station;
	(The) Energy Network;
	GVA Grimley;
	North Norfolk District Council;
	Rating Surveyors Association;
	South Holland District Council;
	Wychavon District Council.

Non-domestic Rates: Valuation

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the administrative cost to  (a) the Valuation Office Agency,  (b) local authorities and  (c) his Department of the (i) 2005 ratings list revaluation and (ii) 2010 ratings list revaluation.

Rosie Winterton: Five-yearly revaluations are part of the normal operation of the rating system and form part of the everyday work of Communities and Local Government and local authorities. No assessment of the administration costs has been made for either Communities and Local Government or local authorities.
	The estimated cost incurred by the Valuation Office Agency in undertaking the 2005 rating revaluation was £47.328 million and the estimated cost of undertaking the 2010 rating revaluation is £51.5 million.

Planning Permission: Fees and Charges

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether planning authorities are able to exempt educational and charitable organisations from planning fees in order to encourage sustainable development.

Ian Austin: Local planning authorities are unable to exempt educational and charitable organisations from planning fees. Planning permission is normally given in relation to the land to which it relates, and there is no guarantee that the successful applicant will be the one to implement the permission. Only in very exceptional instances is permission given that is personal and exclusive to an individual or corporate applicant, with a presumption that it will come to an end if the land ownership changes.
	Accordingly, the planning system does not offer any special rate, as such, for applications it receives from charities or educational organisations, and there are no plans at present to change this. There are two exceptions to the above: certain works to improve access to buildings for disabled people are exempt from planning fees, and applications from non-profit-making sport or recreational organisations to carry out certain works and changes of use at sports grounds are liable to pay only at a concessionary rate.

Transition Towns Movement

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with the Transition Towns Movement; and whether her Department has undertaken research into transition towns.

Ian Austin: In March, my right hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Hazel Blears) met the Totnes branch of the Transition Network to hear about its work to support community engagement and empowerment, and foster 'green' lifestyle choices. Officials also visited Totnes, in May, where they met with various 'Transitioners' and heard about a variety of projects such as garden share schemes, plans for a new zero carbon development, and plans for the local Energy Service Company.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Afghan nationals have received military training in the UK in each year since 2001.

Bill Rammell: 51 Afghan nationals have received military training in the UK since 2001.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 0 
			 2003 0 
			 2004 1 
			 2005 5 
			 2006 14 
			 2007 24 
			 2008 2 
			 2009 to date 5

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who has operational responsibility for air combat missions flown by UK aircraft in Afghanistan; and where that person is based.

Quentin Davies: UK Fast Air fixed wing aircraft and Apache helicopters fly combat missions in support of ISAF operations in Afghanistan and are under the operational command of Commander Joint Operations. For fast air fixed wing aircraft, in theatre operational control is provided by the Deputy Coalition Forces Air Component Commander, based in Al Udeid. In theatre, operational control for Apache helicopters is provided by Commander ISAF.

Armed Conflict: Afghanistan

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many systems to investigate and provide compensation for civilian casualties of International Security Assistance Force operations are in place in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Compensation claims brought against the Ministry of Defence as part of the International Security Assistance Force are considered on the basis of whether or not the Department has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a proven legal liability compensation is paid.
	The system in place for handling claims for compensation brought against the Ministry of Defence by Afghanistan civilians is through the Department's Area Claims Office based in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province. Claims staff rotate through Musa Qaleh and Sangin and visit support bases at Kandahar and Kabul to handle claims which arise at these locations.
	Other members of the International Security Assistance Force have their own systems in place to handle compensation claims.

Armed Forces: Data Protection

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to standardise the data gathered in records of discharge from the armed forces.

Bill Rammell: The Service Leavers Certificate has been standardised through the implementation of the Joint Personnel Administration system (JPA). The JPA termination process is common to all three services and requires the same input from units, individuals and service manning authorities. However, the administering of discharges and the issue of associated discharge documentation differs between the three services, reflecting their individual structures and organisation.

Armed Forces: Health Services

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel of each  (a) rank,  (b) regiment and  (c) age cohort have been treated for (i) psychological disorders, (ii) post-traumatic stress disorder and (iii) physical injuries in each year since 1997; how many have been discharged as a consequence of (A) a psychological disorder and (B) a physical injury in each such year; which countries each had served in; and how long each had served before discharge.

Kevan Jones: Since July 2007 the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation has reported on the treatment figures for psychological disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders, psychiatric morbidity, of the UK armed forces. Quarterly reports for the whole of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 are available both in the Library of the House and on the DASA website at
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	Equivalent verified data prior to 2007 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Casualty statistics are published on a fortnightly basis on the MOD website at:
	www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets/Operations InAfghanistanBritishCasualties.htm_(Afghanistan)
	www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets/OperationsIn IraqBritishCasualties.htm_(Iraq)
	Further data broken down by rank, regiment and age cohort are not maintained centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. To obtain these details would require the examination of the individual medical records of each of the patients who has been classified as very seriously injured (VSI) or seriously injured (SI) for the period of the deployment. These records can only be viewed for non-clinical reasons with the express consent of the individual concerned, to protect patient confidentiality.
	The three tables present annual numbers of medical discharges by service between 1997 and 2007, for those discharges where mental and behavioural disorders or musculoskeletal disorders and injuries were the principal cause leading to medical discharge. Figures for 2008 are currently being collated and are not yet available.
	
		
			  Naval Service( 1)  medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007 
			   ICD cause group 
			  Year of discharge  Mental disorders  Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries 
			 1997 16 223 
			 1998 31 286 
			 1999 25 321 
			 2000 42 333 
			 2001 30 290 
			 2002 38 276 
			 2003 42 202 
			 2004 29 211 
			 2005 46 223 
			 2006 42 206 
			 2007 40 187 
			 (1) Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines 
		
	
	
		
			  Army medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007 
			   ICD cause group 
			  Year of discharge  Mental disorders  Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries 
			 1997 86 790 
			 1998 94 776 
			 1999 58 804 
			 2000 64 745 
			 2001 104 722 
			 2002 112 734 
			 2003 90 696 
			 2004 121 723 
			 2005 119 676 
			 2006 111 629 
			 2007 114 596 
		
	
	
		
			  RAF medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007 
			   ICD cause group 
			  Year of discharge  Mental disorders  Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries 
			 1997 19 143 
			 1998 18 91 
			 1999 13 90 
			 2000 21 113 
			 2001 20 71 
			 2002 13 79 
			 2003 28 108 
			 2004 65 71 
			 2005 38 51 
			 2006 78 87 
			 2007 49 109 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide information on the location where the personnel who were medically discharged served as this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The average length of service for Naval Service personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is 10.3 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for Naval Service( 1)  personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, number( 2) , 1997-2007 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 16 31 25 42 30 38 42 29 46 42 40 
			 Less than 5 (2)— (2)— (2)— 13 12 12 16 11 12 11 7 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 (2)— 12 9 9 5 7 8 6 14 12 17 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 (2)— 7 6 8 8 9 7 (2)— 6 (2)— (2)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 (2)— 5 (2)— 6 (2)— 5 6 5 9 9 6 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 (2)— — — (2)— — (2)— (2)— — (2)— (2)— — 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 (2)— (2)— — — — — — — (2)— (2)— (2)— 
			 35 or more — — — — — — — — — — — 
			 Not known(3) — — — — — — — — — — (2)— 
			 (1) Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines (2) Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines (3) Entry date information not available 
		
	
	The average length of service for Naval Service personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 11.5 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for Naval Service( 1)  personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number( 2) , 1997-2007 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 223 286 321 333 290 276 202 211 223 206 187 
			 Less than 5 23 36 62 74 63 50 32 35 45 68 58 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 98 94 88 74 51 50 48 66 72 45 53 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 39 72 66 86 80 100 60 52 44 25 23 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 30 39 46 48 45 41 32 26 43 40 27 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 21 36 52 40 40 26 22 21 14 15 20 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 6 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 9 6 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— (2)— 5 (2)— — — (2)— — 
			 35 or more — — (2)— — (2)— (2)— — (2)— (2)— (2)— — 
			 Not known(3) — — — — — — — — — (2)— — 
			 (1) Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines (2) Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines (3) Entry date information not available 
		
	
	The average length of service for Army personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is 7.1 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for Army personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, numbers( 1) , 1997-2007 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 86 94 58 64 104 112 90 121 119 111 114 
			 Less than 5 38 37 30 28 49 48 55 62 56 53 50 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 35 36 5 14 25 26 15 28 23 30 34 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 6 13 11 (1)— 14 16 8 16 13 9 16 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 5 (1)— (1)— 10 5 12 7 (1)— 19 10 9 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 8 (1)— 5 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 (1)— — — — (1)— (1)— — — (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 — — — — (1)— — — (1)— — — — 
			 35 or more — — — — (1)— — — — — — — 
			 (1 )Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines 
		
	
	The average length of service for Army personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 3.4 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for Army personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number( 1) , 1997-2007 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 790 776 804 745 722 734 696 723 676 629 597 
			 Less than 5 519 562 610 557 520 525 544 545 495 457 455 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 163 116 97 90 74 79 63 81 86 78 64 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 70 62 66 63 66 78 45 34 36 28 27 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 19 27 20 19 29 (1)— 27 31 31 38 34 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 (1)— (1)— 11 (1)— 31 (1)— 17 27 23 24 15 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 (1)— — — (1)— (1)— — — (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 — (1)— — — — (1)— — (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 35 or more — — — — (1)— — — (1)— (1)— — — 
			 Not known(2) — — — — — — — — — — — 
			 (1) Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines (2) Entry date information not available 
		
	
	The average length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is nine years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, number( 1) , 1997-200 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 19 18 13 21 20 13 28 65 38 78 49 
			 Less than 5 (1)— (1)— (1)— 7 (1)— (1)— 7 39 21 36 21 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 8 8 (1)— 5 (1)— (1)— (1)— 12 7 23 12 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 9 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 6 5 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 (1)— (1)— 5 (1)— (1)— (1)— 7 (1)— (1)— 5 7 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 — (1)— — (1)— (1)— (1)— 6 10 (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 (1)— — — (1)— (1)— (1)— — (1)— (1)— (1)— — 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 — — — — (1)— — (1)— — — (1)— (1)— 
			 35 or more — — — — — — — — (1)— — — 
			 (1) Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines 
		
	
	The average length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 11.8 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.
	
		
			  Length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number( 1) , 1997-2007 
			   Year of discharge 
			  Length of service (years)  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 All 143 91 90 113 71 79 108 71 51 87 109 
			 Less than 5 36 17 18 38 18 20 17 27 11 17 15 
			 Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10 37 30 21 14 7 5 17 15 13 22 29 
			 Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15 24 12 27 25 11 17 24 5 6 7 12 
			 Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20 15 7 6 11 15 11 9 6 9 15 17 
			 Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25 18 14 9 14 12 18 23 5 6 8 21 
			 Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30 8 5 5 (1)— (1)— (1)— 8 7 (1)— 11 (1)— 
			 Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 35 or more (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— — 7 (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Not known(2) (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— — — (1)— (1)— — (1)— — 
			 (1) Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines (2) Entry date information not available 
		
	
	Information detailing the countries served in by each armed forces personnel discharged with a psychological disorder or physical injury is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of levels of poverty amongst armed forces veterans who retired before 1975 and do not receive a full armed forces pension;
	(2)  what welfare provision his Department offers to people who retired from the armed forces before 1975.

Kevan Jones: The Government do not collect statistics on the number of ex-service personnel living in poverty. Veterans facing difficulties in their civilian lives have access to the free veterans helpline and the Veterans Welfare Service which provide advice and support, as well as to the UK benefits provided for those in need.
	The Service Personnel Command Paper (The Nations Commitment: Cross Government Support to our Armed Forces, their families and veterans) published by the Government in July 2008 show our commitment to all veterans.
	It is the first cross Government strategy to improve the level of support given to serving personnel, their families and veterans. It contains over 40 commitments aimed at ending any disadvantage imposed by the unique demands of service life and providing special treatment where appropriate.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people who retired from the armed forces before 1975 do not receive an armed forces pension; and how many of those had over  (a) 20,  (b) 15 and  (c) 10 years service.

Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Vehicles

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many combat vehicles of each type are in service with each infantry battalion; who the manufacturer of each type of vehicle is; and how many of each type of vehicle are available under urgent operational requirements to each battalion.

Quentin Davies: The information requested for all "combat" vehicles is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of armoured tracked vehicles in service with each Infantry Battalion is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Unit  Warrior  CVR(T)  FV430 
			 1st Battalion The Scots Guards 26 8 8 
			 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 28 12 9 
			 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment 26 13 4 
			 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancashire Regiment 0 8 36 
			 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 34 16 11 
			 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 0 12 58 
			 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment 30 18 20 
			 3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment 44 16 5 
			 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh 38 11 5 
			 4th Battalion The Rifles 0 10 61 
			 5th Battalion The Rifles 21 12 9 
		
	
	BAE Systems (formerly Alvis Vickers) manufactures all three vehicle types. None of these vehicles were procured through the Urgent Operational Requirement process. We do not release the numbers of vehicles available for deployment on operations, as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the security and capability of the armed forces.

Puma Helicopters

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has awarded the contract for the upgrade of the Puma helicopters; and if he will make a statement.

Quentin Davies: No contract for the upgrade of our Puma helicopters has been placed.

RAND Corporation

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of each study commissioned by his Department from the RAND Corporation since 1997.

Quentin Davies: The following studies are accessible electronically as follows:
	Remuneration and its Motivation of Service Personnel: Focus Group Investigation and Analysis
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/DB549/
	Motivations and Attitudes of New Recruits Regarding Remuneration Issues: Focus Group Investigation and Analysis
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/DB551/
	Information Sharing Among Military Headquarters: The Impact on Decision Making
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG226/
	Outsourcing and Outfitting Practices: Implications for the Ministry of Defence Shipbuilding Programmes
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG198/
	Monitoring the Progress of Shipbuilding Programmes: How Can the Defence Procurement Agency More Accurately Monitor Progress?
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG235/
	Differences Between Military and Commercial Shipbuilding: Implications for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG236/
	Options for Reducing Costs in the United Kingdom's Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) Programme
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG240/
	The United Kingdom's Naval Shipbuilding Industrial Base: The Next Fifteen Years
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG294/
	The United Kingdom's Nuclear Submarine Industrial Base, Volume 1: Sustaining Design and Production Resources
	http://www.rand.Org/pubs/monographs/MG326.l/
	The United Kingdom's Nuclear Submarine Industrial Base, Volume 2: Ministry of Defence Roles and Required Technical Resources
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG326.2/
	The United Kingdom's Nuclear Submarine Industrial Base, Volume 3: Options for Initial Fuelling
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG326.3/
	Sustaining Key Skills in the UK Naval Industry
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG725/
	The Royal Navy's New-Generation Type 45 Destroyer: Acquisition Options and Implications
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1486/
	Assembling and Supporting the Joint Strike Fighter in the UK: Issues and Costs
	http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1771/
	Copies of some studies are not held or are being withheld as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another state or prejudice commercial interests.

Somalia: Piracy

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1159W, on Somalia: piracy, what records the Royal Navy keeps of the  (a) identity and  (b) activities of piracy suspects captured by its forces; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: When suspected pirates are encountered, Royal Navy personnel will collect evidence and take witness statements, as the police would during a criminal investigation. This information is then used to assess whether the evidence against the pirates is sufficiently strong to merit transfer to a third party state for the purpose of further investigation and, if appropriate, prosecution. If such a transfer is made, the evidence is passed to the authorities of the receiving state.
	The Royal Navy keeps a record of those suspected pirates detained and transferred to the Kenyan authorities.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Learning for Pleasure

Ann Cryer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage people to learn for pleasure.

Rosie Winterton: "The Learning Revolution" White Paper sets out our ambitious vision for informal learning in the 21st century, with an extra £30 million funding.

University Places

Robert Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applications for university places were made for the academic year 2008-09; and how many students were accepted.

David Lammy: UCAS data on full-time undergraduates shows there were 502,000 UK domiciled applicants last year.
	Of that, 405,000 had accepted a place by the end of clearing.

University Places

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of new students who will apply for university and college places in  (a) 2009 and  (b) 2010.

David Lammy: There were 457,000 UK domiciled UCAS applicants as of March this year. This is a 35,000 increase on the same point last year.
	We do not have any estimates of applicant numbers for 2010.

Royal Mail

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress has been made on the proposed part-privatisation of Royal Mail.

Patrick McFadden: The process to find a strategic partner for Royal Mail is ongoing. There has been interest and we are pursuing this with the companies concerned. As the Secretary of State has said
	"Our criteria, set out clearly in February, make it clear that any strategic partner must be motivated to modernise Royal Mail over the long term, and must offer value for money for the taxpayer. We will not do a deal at any price. There is some way to go and it may well take longer to reach agreement with a partner than it takes to debate and agree this Bill."
	For commercial confidentiality reasons, it would not be appropriate to reveal the identities of the potential partners.

Student Finance

John Randall: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the proposed timetable and scope is of his Department's review of student finance.

David Lammy: My right hon. Friend, the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, told the House in January 2004 that there would be an independent review of tuition fees once we had evidence on the first three years of the variable fee regime. The first three years of operation will not be concluded until the autumn. Ahead of the tuition fee review, the Government will publish their framework for the future development of higher education.

Balance of Trade: UK and India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the balance of trade between the UK and India was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Bilateral trade between the UK and India is worth £12.13 billion.
	Exports of UK goods and services to India in 2008 amounted to £5.89 billion(1).
	Imports of goods and services from India to the UK in 2008 amounted to £6.24 billion(1).
	(1)Source: Office of National Statistics.

South West Regional Development Agency

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the performance of the South West Regional Development Agency against its objectives.

Patrick McFadden: RDAs, through their corporate plans set out key organisational objectives and deliverables. These set out their contributions to the Regional Economic Strategies. The Department has well established arrangements to assess the performance of RDAs, including SWRDA, against their corporate plan objectives through the RDA tasking and performance framework. These arrangements are under review as part of the SNR implementation. Further information will be laid in the House Library.

Further Education Capital Budget

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria apply to allocation of funding from the further education capital budget; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: In line with Sir Andrew Foster's recommendations, the Learning and Skills Council has been consulting on the best approach to prioritise projects.
	It has been confirmed that this will involve two processes—the first to ensure urgent projects can go ahead in the summer, the second to enable needs-based projects to go ahead as further funding is made available.
	The criteria for projects to proceed in the first process include:
	whether the project is ready to start;
	its education and skills impact;
	its contribution to local economic and regeneration priorities;
	co-dependency with third parties;
	the condition of the estate; and
	value for money.

Basic Skills

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to ensure the delivery of the Government's Skills Agenda.

Kevin Brennan: This Department will continue to ensure the delivery of the Government Skills agenda. In support of these measures:
	we are this year spending an unprecedented £5 billion on adult skills, including £925 million on Train to Gain;
	we are spending over £1 billion on apprenticeships, bringing Government funding for apprenticeships to its highest ever level;
	we are providing targeted help for those who have lost their jobs or are facing redundancy; and
	we are investing a further £1 billion per year until 2010-11 in Skills for Life.

Basic Skills

David Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK's skills base.

Kevin Brennan: This Department will continue to ensure the successful delivery of the Government Skills agenda.
	Train to Gain has helped nearly one million learners and thousands of businesses. Starts in 2007-08 totalled 331,800—an increase of 60.8 per cent. on 2006-07.
	Apprenticeship starts have increased from 65,000 in 1996-97 to 224,800 for 2007-09. This represents the largest ever number of people starting an Apprenticeship.
	Over 5.7 million adults have engaged with the Skills for Life programme. 12 million Skills for Life opportunities have been taken up, with over 2.8 million adults gaining a first qualification. We have met the 2010 target of 2.25 million achievements in skills for life two years early.

Low-Carbon Economy

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to assist in the development of a low-carbon economy.

Patrick McFadden: A low carbon economy represents a huge economic opportunity for the UK, and is at the heart of 'New Industry, New Jobs', the Government's strategic vision for Britain's economic recovery. Budget 2009 provided £1.4 billion of extra targeted support in the low carbon sector. The Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, to be published this summer, will provide a framework to ensure UK business and workers can compete successfully for the jobs of the low carbon future.

Social Mobility

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what policies of his Department have objectives to increase social mobility.

Patrick McFadden: The 'New Opportunities' White Paper sets out Government's commitment to help people get on and get ahead. The key actions we are taking include expanding apprenticeships; tackling the NEET problem; and widening participation in HE. We are tripling the number of career development loans and maximising the help that FE colleges and providers can give to individuals looking for work or wanting to get on.
	Building enterprise capability and the confidence and ambition to start a business are critical and we are supporting some key activities to enable individuals and businesses to start and grow. We are:
	Working with young people to provide them with experience of enterprise and opportunities to develop the necessary skills and confidence;
	Directly supporting individuals to hone their ideas and start a business as well as established businesses who want to thrive and grow through the Government's streamlined portfolio of business support products and services, delivered via Business Link;
	And helping to remove barriers to enterprise especially improving access to finance.